Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Eight
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Spears of Tyr marched towards Vesontio. Their scouts reported a relatively light enemy force around the city, so Gundovald continued on towards the city, seemingly unaware of the Helvetii army coming down upon him. They offered battle, along with their Raetii allies.
A Helvetii cavalry charge from the rear on the right flank was stopped by a unit of our Noble Cavalry, but they sustained casualties while doing so. The left flank was essentially held up by an elite Raetii unit that fought to the death, taking over two hundred of our warriors with them.
But what really put us in trouble were the slingers that the Helvetii and Raetii units had fielded which rained death on our flanks. Our infantry was tied down fighting the very stubborn Celtic infantry. We didn’t have enough cavalry to chase down all the slingers and to deal with the enemy cavalry, and to defeat the elite units we had to surround them. So when we would surround them the slingers would mow us down from the back, and then would attack the cavalry when they were chased after since they couldn’t all be chased after at once. As said, we didn’t have enough to chase down all the slingers rapidly, so that resulted in hundreds of casualties from their slingers.
Eventually the left flank defeated the Raetii elite unit and was able to come into assist the right flank by taking out their slingers, but not before Gundovald had to charge in to assist the line with the Helvetii.
Eventually the tide turned and our men were able to defeat the Helvetii by slowly surrounding them and finishing them off with a well-timed cavalry charge.
In his after-action report to me, Gundovald mentioned that we had to remove the levies from our offensive armies; they broke too quickly and sustain too many casualties in battle. Of the six units of levies in his army, three had been totally annihilated and the other three had been decimated to the point that they were combat ineffective. This made me realize that the four units of levies in my army, while extremely experienced, might also be a liability. When we were not at war I will replace them, but for now, I do not have the time nor funds to replace them.
But our vulnerability was plain to see, and the remaining Raetii forces, quite large when put together, seized that opportunity and attacked our exhausted force. They retreated as far as they could before the enemy finally caught up with them.
The survivors tell us there was a very grim atmosphere among the remaining warriors. The night before there was a light snowfall, leaving the battlefield looking very depressing, as each man contemplated his fate.
Gundovald, aware of their impending doom, initially decided to make a giant shield wall. But once again, the enemy forces were split. The large Raetii force was a ways off, and the much smaller Helvetii force was quite close. So Gundovald made the decision to take on the Helvetii force first before dealing with the Raetii. And he had to do it quickly, because the Raetii army was fast approaching.
Initially it looked like we might actually pull off a victory, but fresh Raetii warriors entered the fray, and we were doomed. There were simply too many of them for us to fight, and too few of us.
While he was the head of the opposing family, I harbored no resentment against him like I did Karl or Raimund. He was a good man, and a loss for our nation.
The Spears of Tyr were totally trounced. There were only 85 men remaining of the over 3,000 that left a few weeks before, so confident of victory. Was it hubris, or just bad luck of being attacked by massive enemy armies multiple times without being able to retreat and recover?
Hearing of the defeat, the Bloodsworn headed to avenge the loss of our brothers, and the Spears of Tyr were resurrected back in our home province, for we would not allow those filthy Celts to forever tarnish the name of one of our armies. We would get revenge on the Helvetii and Raetii. I might be getting old, as my 50th winter is fast approaching, but I will see the Helvetii and Raetii destroyed before I die.
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Then the Spears of Tyr popped up again hours later. :shrug:
Wondering what are your plans to crush these Celts...
I got to say those Thureos look really cool.
09-21-2013, 03:29
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Well I certainly cannot let those dirty Celts ruin a good army's name, can I? The Spears of Tyr shall be reborn, and wreak havoc among the Celts. How they will do that exactly, Im not sure yet, but I will, and the Celts shall be wiped out.
:chucks:
09-26-2013, 04:08
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Sorry for the lack of updates during the last few days, my life had been very hectic with work and its hard to find time to play, much less write an AAR. But thankfully today was the hardest day and tomorrow I will have much more free time. With luck Ill be able to update tomorrow or Friday.
09-28-2013, 05:28
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Nine
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
With Vesonito taken by friendly armies, we headed for the final Helvetii town: Octuduron.
Not wanting to head into the same trap that Gundovald fell into, we sent our scouts ahead. What they reported was disturbing. The Romans had taken over the town, eliminating the Helvetii. At the same time, we got word that the Treverii, the Gallic nation that took over Vesonito, had defeated the last of the Raetii. A war that had lasted almost ten years was finally over.
We were now in a very interesting situation. To our south were the Romans, a very formidable threat. To our west were the Treverii, who were a growing, but not quite daunting, threat.
I met with Ricfried and Baldovin, my best generals, on what they thought we should do.
It is a very daunting issue, as either path puts us into a difficult war. Baldovin said that we should attack the Romans first, as they are more of the threat. Our relations with the Treverii are stable for now, and they seem to be attacking towards their western neighbors. But Ricfried argued that we must take out the Treverii first. More land, more money, more armies to fight Rome with. And besides, how long would it be before the Treverii attack? Their war with the western Gallic tribes wouldn’t last long, and then what? We would undoubtedly be their next target. Although the Romans might get to them first, but I doubt it, the Romans just started a war with the Avernii.
We ended up deciding to head into Treverii territory. From our information, they only have three or four territories. If we strike hard and fast we can take their towns and cripple them quickly before they can launch a meaningful counter-attack.
Soon after our meeting, some thugs ambushed Ricfried and his guards. They were able to fight them off, but Ricfried suffered an arrow to the knee, so one of his captains took over the Bloodsworn as he recovered.
We could not launch our invasion as he was recovering, plus a reserve army was being mustered. So in the meantime, we sent our spies to scout out the lands further into central Gaul. We found that the Romans had taken a key Gallic town, Bibracte, as well as the Treverii were beefing up their defenses, seemingly aware of our impending attack.
We couldn’t delay forever, so as soon as Ricfried could walk we launched the invasion. We would hit Bagacum and then Treverorum soon after, in order to take away most of their sources of income from those towns and isolate their final town of Vesontio. Ricfried reached Bagacum first.
Unfortunately I wasnt able to finish either of them, but Im hoping to finish this one, and I may start implementing a little bit of humor into this one.
09-29-2013, 01:09
BroskiDerpman
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Crush them all!!!
Boz! Boz! Boz! (EB barbarian yelling)
09-29-2013, 07:58
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Ten
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Spears of Tyr, eager to draw Gallic blood, attacked the army that was camping by the town of Treverorum.
When I heard news of the victories I immediately requested whether or not one of the armies would be able to march on Vesontio. The two generals replied that they could not, as they were dealing with civil disturbance in the towns they had captured. So I marched my army to besiege the town. While it left a gaping hole in our defenses, I couldn’t let the Treverii use the time to organize a counter-attack. But more importantly, the voice in my head told me I had to. It told me I didn’t have much longer to be in this world before Wōdanaz takes me to Walhalla, and I needed to win more glory for myself. Let the others fight to take the small towns; they are dust to the achievement of taking a fortified city!
Because we couldn’t see very well, we sent our scout cavalry to find the enemy forces. After travelling along the hill for a bit they found the enemy, and reported back.
Their right flank collapsed quickly, while their left flank, reinforced by their general held on for a bit longer. But what can you expect from a few low-skilled tribesmen and some slingers?
Finally our preparations for the assault were ready.
First we had to deal with a few units of slingers that somehow slipped through the siege, but they were easily taken care of by our cavalry.
The defense at the western gate was relatively feeble. Two depleted units of skirmishers were left to defend the western gate, which was surrounded by high natural walls which would have made for a great killing zone had it been defended better. But the southern gate was extremely defended, and our warriors storming that gate found themselves in a terrible melee, with enemy skirmishers raining javelins from above as they came through the gate.
But it didn’t take long for our battle hardened warriors to break through the enemy, and when our men from the western gate arrived, the Treverii surrendered.
Vesontio was ours, and with that the chieftains had raised me to the status of Frijaz. While I was honored with the promotion, I feel like it may be alienating the other chiefs. Supreme power was never held in high esteem in the tribes, and I have heard murmurs of discontent among the chieftains. While right now we are riding on the high tide of victory, I wonder how much longer it is until the tide ebbs…
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Wodanaz takes me to Walhalla, made me chuckle. :grin2:
Quite the campaign you are enjoying, any Roman trouble so far?
09-29-2013, 16:31
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Archaeological evidence shows that the Germanic people called it Walhalla.
And yeah, Im going to have to tackle the Roman problem soon. They havent given me trouble yet, but I think they will soon.
09-29-2013, 20:37
edyzmedieval
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
:oops:
I have eaten a couple of letters in that spelling of Walhalla...
09-29-2013, 22:42
Bramborough
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Another great installment, keep em coming! :-)
Question: Are you actually finding time to take screenshots during the battle itself, or doing it from replays afterwards?
I just can't multi-task and click fast enough to capture good screenies during actual battle. But my replays usually don't play out quite the same way, the moments of which I want a really good snap don't recur. (which has also been my challenge in coming up with a screenie I want to submit for the weekly contest)
09-29-2013, 22:58
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
I take them in the battle itself. As you can tell, most of the screenshots are taken before the battle actually starts or during a part of the battle which doesnt require my undivided attention, like when the battle lines are about to clash and theres nothing more I can do until the melee starts, or when my units are chasing down routers. Thats why there are so many pictures during those times.
10-05-2013, 18:35
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Sorry for not updating in a while. I am drowning in schoolwork- I have two major tests and a 10 minute presentation in a language I barely understand (and I cant use notes!) due next week. I have been able to play two turns with the new patch and I love what I see (AI armies are no longer 75% slingers for one thing) but Im not sure if Ill be able to play much until next weekend. Again, I apologize for anyone who has been waiting for an update, but I must get control of my real-life requirements before I can attend to this.
10-05-2013, 20:47
AntiDamascus
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
What language?
10-05-2013, 21:18
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
You had me all excited!
10-06-2013, 00:00
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by AntiDamascus
What language?
Hebrew. Annoying as frak to learn, too many male/female word variations to go along with the numerous tenses that gives me a huge headache.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sp4
You had me all excited!
Yeah, sorry again...
10-12-2013, 07:13
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Eleven, Part 1
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
After the conquest of the Treverii, the Romans were now our only serious threat. We had to act soon, and more importantly, we had to get to Roma soon. I feel like the longer this dream is not satisfied the further away it gets from being achievable. And I feel that my men are feeling it too. I feel they are getting restless. they want bigger things, not just small Gallic hamlets. They want big and rich cities, and every week that we don't sack some large Roman or Gallic town is another week that I hear of growing discontent among the ranks. That worries me, I cannot invade Roman lands with my commanders and soldiers murmuring behind my back.
And the voices have returned.
They give me many sleepless nights now. I keep having this dream— or maybe it’s a nightmare— of arriving in Roma and seeing instead of gold and silver, I see blood and bones.
The gates are closed as I march in with my army. The gates to Roma are gilded with golden plates embroidered with silver leaves. But as I push them open they begin to crumble, the rotten wood raining down over me.
I venture further into the city. The streets are mud, with broken stones littering the sides of the streets. There are way too many piles of bones for this to have been the capital of one of the supposed cultured nations in the world. Wild dogs fight over scraps of rats that were unfortunate enough to get caught. I catch a glimpse of a few charred corpses in an alleyway, with wolves nipping at the bodies. But I think the most unsettling thing was the silence. Not even dogs barking. It was the silence of the dead.
My men and I walk down the street, dazed at what we are seeing. I send scouts up ahead to see if anything changes, while I give permission for some of my men to see if there is any loot still in this city. There is none. The scouts return telling me that there are large palaces and arenas in the middle of the city. We went on, hoping that the center of the city is better.
We reach this large arena that is very long on two sides and short and curved on the other two sides. I think they at one time raced horses there, but now the only horses in this arena are dead and rotting. The seats are broken and dirty. Stray cats prowl the stands where it seemed like once thousands of people cheered as horses raced.
There are large palaces in the center of the city. We head into the largest of them. It had a painting on the ceiling which I found intriguing. Numerous random naked people doing seemingly random things are covering the ceiling. I can only assume they are their gods or something. But then I hear a voice. It is Odin’s voice, coming to me solemn and strong:
“The road to Roma is from the south.”
Then I wake up, every time, and I go back to a dreamless sleep.
To be continued…
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Authors note: Part 2 is coming tomorrow, and is much larger. Don't worry, I'm back. :bow:
10-12-2013, 12:48
Alcibiade
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
This nightmare of the Suebi leader has been a reality for the Macedonian trroops of my second campaign. I hope you'll find Rome less depleted by barbarian invasions than I. It would be a beautifull development in this penthralling AAR :-)
10-13-2013, 02:22
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Eleven, Part 2
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
We have to learn more about the Romans. Considering that they are our biggest threat, we knew very little about them. So I sent my best spy, Erminigilid, to discover more about the Romans.
Starting from Koria, he moved past Medhlan, which we already knew about it, and headed south.
He thought that was the end of Roman rule, but then he learned about passage to an island off the coast called Sicily, where he met with a Siracusani envoy who talked to him about a possible alliance.
And he found out that the main part of Roman lands is called Italia. Our way into Italia could be Sicily. If we were to land there, kick out the Romans from the island, give it back to Syracuse as a gesture of goodwill, then we could use the island as a staging ground to invade lower Italia, and eventually take Roma.
While this was going on in the northeast, two of our neighbors, the Aestii and Lugii, went to war. For decades the Aestii have been sitting around, doing nothing, and now it seems like they plan on doing something with a numerous armies they have been raising.
Although it was not the Aestii who defeated them. The Eravisci defeated the Lugii, giving us a new neighbor. A neighbor with whom we do not have the best of relationships with. It seems like they want their home town of Akink back. Which is a shame because I don’t think we will be feeling too amicable to the idea of simply giving up a town that we captured to them.
I met with Ricfried and Baldovin about our next move. They brought something to my attention the problem with the Artrebartes. Our relations with the once-small Gallic tribe had soured to the point where our spies report that war was being discussed by the Artrebartes tribal leaders. It was time that we took steps to remove the Artrebartes threat, because we do not want to be in a large conflict with the Romans and have the Artrebartes attack an undefended border. Another army was being trained at the moment, as soon as that was completed we would begin our invasion. Ricfried thought that an obvious first target would be the Artrebartian capital of Nemetocenna. A factor that we had to take into account was the numerous smaller Artrebartian navies that might land their troops far behind our lines and cause havoc to the countryside. So to remedy that problem we would raise a number of small armies on our northern border to ensure that we would be able to defend from any possible incursions.
When Erminigilid came back from Sicily a few weeks later, I asked him what he thought of the city of Roma.
“It is massive. I have never seen a city so large. It makes Lupfurdum seem like a small village. Also, Romans are small. I felt like a giant there, and all around Italia. They seem to be very haughty; I feel we can use this to our advantage somehow. And they are very wealthy. Almost everyone I saw was dressed in clothes that in our nation would only be worn for special occasion. I believe that should we take this city, we would be rich beyond our wildest dreams.”
I went to bed happy, and I once again dreamt of roads paved with gold.
10-14-2013, 01:48
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Twelve
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As we were preparing for our invasion, we heard that the Lugii people had risen against their occupiers, threw them out, and then created a new independent state. And then was promptly attacked, again, by the Aestii.
Finally our preparations were complete. Numerous small defense armies were posted on the coastal towns, and the new full-sized army, the Skull Breakers, was sent to take the Artrebartian capital city.
The Siracusani had taught us a few siege tactics, such as the siege tower. This was a large moving tower that could be used to take over the enemy walls. With the small enemy garrison, it seemed that this battle would be over quickly.
But it quickly went south when both of our towers, one at the south gate and the other at the western gate, were set on fire very quickly. Our men who were eagerly waiting on the towers to capture the walls climbed down the ladders in a panic, desperately trying to get off before it was engulfed in flames and collapsed.
At the western gate, our units burnt down the gate with much fewer casualties, but the Artrebartian garrison had laid numerous traps within the gate, preventing anyone from getting in. So our units went to the southern gate and joined the fray there.
Authors note: For some reason my units refused go through the gate even though I destroyed it. Must be a bug of some kind.
Our forces at the southern gate were met with fierce resistance, for the enemy had put their elite units at the front line. We poured men into that gate, and it seemed like it would be a stalemate, for neither side could turn the other. When one side began to waver, our generals would rally the troops to continue on. It was a bloodbath.
After almost an hour of a very violent melee, our units finally broke through the enemy barriers at the gate by sheer numbers, and quickly went to mop up the remaining Artrebartian units scattered around the city.
Finally we were able to see exactly the carnage at the gate. I arrived just as the battle was ending, and was able to survey the bloodbath. We had to either improve our siege equipment to prevent them going up in flames or we would have to starve out the garrisons.
The day was won, and the Artrebartes had lost their capital city. But it was at a considerable cost. Three of our units were completely destroyed, and six others had to be merged to keep battle effectiveness. The Skull Breakers had taken quite a hit for a first battle, and they needed some time to recoup from their losses, so the Bloodsworn would be taking up the mantle for now.
Do I need to get the siege military tradtions or is this bad boy manufactured in a workshop?
10-14-2013, 16:31
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Myth
Do I need to get the siege military tradtions or is this bad boy manufactured in a workshop?
It's a pre siege thing and it's used to attack stone walls directly. Like I said, screw towers, get this thing instead and just drive through the walls. On that note, does anyone else think it is funny that walls are the weak spot of walls instead of the gates? You'd think no one ever bothered with battering rams if it was this easy.
Oh btw, I am not sure if it is Romans only. I have only ever seen it as Rome.
10-14-2013, 16:35
Bramborough
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Myth
Do I need to get the siege military tradtions or is this bad boy manufactured in a workshop?
Not a workshop product, but one of the available options for building equipment at the start of a siege (alongside ladders, battering rams, etc). So you have to wait a turn for it and suffer attrition in the meantime. Strictly speaking, it's not worth building, since most of the time one can just assault immediately without waiting and still win, as long as the attacking army has a ballista or onager that can open a breach. But the tortoise is just fun to use for a few sieges.
It does require some level of siege tech progress, but I don't remember where exactly I picked it up....somewhere in the middle tier [Edit: Pontus gets access with the "Battering Ram" tech in Tier 1. Pretty early.]. Does not require a siege tradition for the army itself; I've had multiple armies build the thing, and I never pick that tradition line.
Quote:
Oh btw, I am not sure if it is Romans only. I have only ever seen it as Rome.
Pontus gets it, so I assume all the Hellenic factions have access to the tortoise.
10-14-2013, 17:56
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bramborough
Not a workshop product, but one of the available options for building equipment at the start of a siege (alongside ladders, battering rams, etc). So you have to wait a turn for it and suffer attrition in the meantime. Strictly speaking, it's not worth building, since most of the time one can just assault immediately without waiting and still win, as long as the attacking army has a ballista or onager that can open a breach. But the tortoise is just fun to use for a few sieges.
It does require some level of siege tech progress, but I don't remember where exactly I picked it up....somewhere in the middle tier. Does not require a siege tradition for the army itself; I've had multiple armies build the thing, and I never pick that tradition line.
Pontus gets it, so I assume all the Hellenic factions have access to the tortoise.
Yes the whole attrition siege to build gimmicky siege equipment thing is a little bleh. I'm sure it'd be used more often if sieges weren't easier to win than most land battles.
10-14-2013, 18:31
Alcibiade
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sp4
Yes the whole attrition siege to build gimmicky siege equipment thing is a little bleh. I'm sure it'd be used more often if sieges weren't easier to win than most land battles.
I find the BAI better as a defenser than as an attacker, though. But it's even dumber when attacking fortified camps. I stoppped using the fortification stance with my armies after I won 3 heroic victories in a row. THe interesting thing is that after this 3 defeats, the AI chose to take another road and to avoid my army`. But how can they just attack one door of the camp only when they heavily outnumber the defender and have 3 different wide open doors to get in ?
10-14-2013, 18:44
Bramborough
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sp4
Yes the whole attrition siege to build gimmicky siege equipment thing is a little bleh. I'm sure it'd be used more often if sieges weren't easier to win than most land battles.
Seems this would be a pretty easy thing to correct. Simply make ballistae and onagers ineffective against walls. These aren't trebuchets, after all, and are intended to be field artillery. I'd be okay with giant ballistae remaining effective, since they don't move and therefore aren't as attractive as "standard" equipment for all armies (not for me anyway). Then there's the flaming arrows/javelins...c'mon, really? Is there historical basis for this? Not some extraordinarily rare example where it worked as an improvisation (much like Hooah's Skull Breakers had to do here), but as a viable, regularly-practiced siege technique, where attackers expected beforehand to burn down the gate of a stone-walled city with flaming "small-arms" missiles alone in the absence of larger equipment, and planned their assault around this capability.
Bottom line, they need to make it so the absence of pre-siege equipment prep means it will be extremely difficult for even an overpoweringly strong army to get inside the walls...and disproportionately bloody even if they succeed. Which is the way it should be. Right now, most player-built armies past Level I barracks probably lose more men during the siege-build attrition than they do simply making an immediate assault. But I often do it anyway (wait), just because it seems "proper" and it's kinda fun to use battering rams and such. Unless I'm trying to get my turn done before dinner or Seahawks kickoff and just AR it out...
10-15-2013, 02:26
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Reduce the amount of artillery pieces from 4 per unit to 2 or maybe 1. At least that way, if you are going to win with siege equipment, you are going to have to build your army around it. Now it's just ridiculously overpowered. Level 1 workshop Ballistas are all the siege equipment you will ever need. They're accurate, they're deadly and 2 units can make big enough breaches into the biggest wall for you to send in all the huns at once.
10-15-2013, 02:28
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sp4
Reduce the amount of artillery pieces from 4 per unit to 2 or maybe 1. At least that way, if you are going to win with siege equipment, you are going to have to build your army around it. Now it's just ridiculously overpowered. Level 1 workshop Ballistas are all the siege equipment you will ever need. They're accurate, they're deadly and 2 units can make big enough breaches into the biggest wall for you to send in all the huns at once.
Wasnt that how it always was? I remember in R1 a single unit of onagers could smash the walls. Granted it would take time, but they did it.
Though I do miss tunneling. Always fun to bring down a wall with sappers.
EDIT: And I do agree that at least for heavy artillery there should be a max of two engines per unit. Thats the way I remember it in M2- the trebuchets had 2 per unit, though maybe that huge cannon thing had just one? I cant remember.
10-25-2013, 23:42
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Alright, good news everyone!
So initially I thought that my campaign was broken because it kept crashing when I was loading the savegame. I could load the game just fine, play a battle, whatever. Just I couldnt load my campaign. I was so scared that patch 5 broke my campaign that I was writing up a huge plan to go back start a new campaign and get to where I am now but I forgot about my mods. So I went back and looked at the mods I was loading and went through each one. Turns out that I can only load the savegame if I have the complete Radious mod package. But I wanted a different battle mod so I got the separate Radious packages (AI, campaign, economy&research) and installed another battle mod. Which causes the crash because I went back to the complete Radious mod package and I could load the game fine.
Anyhow, I finally have time for this game and will be updating this weekend. I will also post an updated list of the mods Im using, as they have changed.
Also I did play a little bit and I have noticed some improvements, havent played enough to notice many changes. Well, there was one big change but you will find out! :book2:
10-26-2013, 05:45
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
Wasnt that how it always was? I remember in R1 a single unit of onagers could smash the walls. Granted it would take time, but they did it.
Though I do miss tunneling. Always fun to bring down a wall with sappers.
EDIT: And I do agree that at least for heavy artillery there should be a max of two engines per unit. Thats the way I remember it in M2- the trebuchets had 2 per unit, though maybe that huge cannon thing had just one? I cant remember.
No, a single unit of onagers, which was still only 2 actual onagers could make maybe 1 hole into a big stone wall? That still meant sending everyone through one breach and the AI was quite good at putting stuff on the other side, so the battle was a massacre. Now, a single unit of ballistas (not onagers, I never tried onagers, I don't even wanna know what they do to a city, maybe the battle just defaults to a victory) can make a big enough hole into a wall for you to send your entire front through at once, which the AI has no idea how to deal with but they have no idea how to deal with sieges anyways.
Like I said, it's all kind of silly cause siege battles are easier than most land battles.
10-26-2013, 06:00
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Thirteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As quickly as our war with the Artrebartes had begun, it ended.
Soon after our capture of their capital city of Nemetocenna, an envoy arrived at my camp, offering terms for a truce. They seemed desperate, and they even offered us a nice sum of money
So I accepted their truce, and with that war ended, we started preparing for our invasion of Roman lands. It didn’t take very long; as most of the armies were already created, and all we had to do was bring them towards the front. Ricfried with the Bloodsworn were to strike first, against the lightly defended Roman town of Octuduron.
With the pieces on the board set, we declared war and launched our attack.
It wasn’t a very strong garrison, so Ricfried decided to bide his time and make the Roman garrison scared. People always fight worse when they are scared.
He calmly moved his men into position on either side of the town, seemingly in no rush. The Romans weren’t going anywhere, and the nearest Roman army was a week’s march away.
A few hundred feet he stopped the men, in full view of the Romans. He addressed his men.
“Sons of the Suebi! We stand in front of the Roman dogs today for what? Why do we face them in battle today? Is it because we are bored? Is it because we have nothing better to do with our lives than to kill our enemies, steal their women and pillage their towns? YES, IT IS! Even as I speak, these Roman animals are wetting themselves in fear of us, the mighty Suebi, who have come to take their homes and lands! So let’s put them out of their misery, and show those barbarians what it means to be a proud Suebi warrior!”
It was a very clean victory. We had lost only ninety men, killing almost all of their men. Octuduron was ours, and with that victory, one of the biggest wars we were ever in had begun. Next we would move onto the fortified city of Medhlan, for which I had a plan. I would not allow another fiasco like Nemetocenna to happen, so we would take the Roman's strongest weapon and beat them at their own game with it.
Authors note: So with patch 5 I'm using a few new mods, and had to discontinue the use of others: Other than the Radious mod, I'm using the AI Food Fix (helps prevent AI armies from starving out), loose formations for all units, faction uniform colors by Mitch, a battle zoom mod called “Zoom all the way down!!!,” and that’s it. As for the mods I had to remove, I had to remove the Armored Suebi mod as the creator went AWOL and hasn’t updated it for the changes, giving me a CTD upon startup. Also, the Natural Dyes mod had to go as it was incompatible with Radious.
10-26-2013, 08:47
Bramborough
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Glad this is back on track!
Looking forward to the Medhlan...your screenies of Octuduron made me realize that despite two Rome campaigns, I don't think I've ever seen a Roman capital city during battle. One hardly ever has to defend one's own city against the AI, and when it does happen the battle is so laughably one-sided that I've almost always AR'd it. And other than Rome, there's no other Latin factions with a walled city. So interested to see what it looks like (although my Pontus is beginning to mull over the the idea of capturing Roman Brundisium...).
10-26-2013, 15:06
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Yeah, Im really excited to continue this- at Medhlan there is a large and well equipped Roman army and Im eager/nervous to see if my armies can take on the Legions, since I heard that the Roman legionnaires are OP.
10-26-2013, 17:43
Myth
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Can't see berserkers and other sword armed infantry in your SS. Why go with predominantly spear stacks?
10-26-2013, 18:08
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Well first of all, the Suebi have a poor choice of sword infantry. The Radious Barbarian unit pack gives me a bunch more sword units, but until I got that mod my main line unit was and still is the spear brothers as they have good damage and defense, and are pretty cheap. Slowly Im moving over to Wodanaz spears and other unit types, but they are almost double the cost of spear brothers. Also, my older armies are very experienced so no real point in moving them over. For example, the Champions of Wodanaz all have 3 golden chevrons.
As for berserkers, they are expensive and great shock infantry, but dont hold the line well. Also I didnt get access to berserkers until around chapter ten of this AAR. So what you will find is that the armies towards the front are the more experienced, but less diverse armies while the new ones I made for this war with the Romans have more swordsmen.
Also spears are better anti-cavalry, and the Romans have a lot.
10-27-2013, 06:32
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Fourteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Quickly after our victory at Octuduron, I sent Aldegar, who was leading The Host of Germania, to lay siege to Medhlan. We did not want to give the Romans a chance to counter-attack. I would rather see them starve in a city than run around the countryside where they can do more harm.
Aldegar decided to use our newest weapon, the ballistas, against the Romans as much as he could. With their help they could turn the tide of battle largely in our favor. Because they were such prized machines, he decided to keep two units of our spear brothers back to protect the siege machines.
Two units of Roman heavy cavalry was trying to flank us and take out our artillery. We only had one of our units of Noble cavalry available so they heroically charged to intercept.
In the center of the battle, our spear brothers were going tooth and nail with a unit of Roman gladiators, men who were extremely skilled in hand to hand combat.
Meanwhile, our artillery rained explosive shells upon the advancing Roman reinforcements, killing dozens of them, causing many of the ill-trained Roman units to flee.
Meanwhile, our unit of Noble cavalry was struggling, so Aldegar and his bodyguard rode in to help. They were facing the elite of the Roman cavalry, so to charge into this melee was a courageous thing to do.
The Roman infantry began to turn, as they saw their lines crumble, especially when the rest of our infantry began to charge at their center. As they fled, our horsemen chased them down and slew them where they stood.
It was a great victory, and it would make our conquest of northern Italia much easier. From our estimates we had wiped out any serious resistance in the city, only leaving a few skirmishers and city watchmen in what used to be the army in charge of the defense of northern Italia. We had taken some losses as well, a number of our units had lost a good number of warriors, and Aldegar had to combine a number of units and hire some mercenaries to replace our losses.
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Fifteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
After our initial victory outside of Medhlan, it was time to press our victory and take the city. It was going to be an easy battle, as most of the Romans from the garrison and the defending army was killed in the previous battle.
We had our scouts check out their defenses. They had some heavy artillery on the walls, but the eastern wall was bare from Roman defenses. So we placed our men and artillery, and our assault began.
The enemy general came to try to take some of us down, but he was met by the mercenaries, who were more than happy to face off against a Roman general.
Medhlan was ours, the first major Roman city to fall to our spears, with very minimal casualties. I forgot to take a screenshot of the results. Again. My bad.
With Medhlan ours, we had to clean up the enemy agents surrounding the city, and a cloak and dagger war began, which we had much success in.
We began to bring up more armies to press our attack further as we dealt with some unrest in our newly captured cities. Clearly the Romans in those towns didn’t appreciate us overthrowing their fat Roman leaders. Word of our conquests were spreading like wildfire, and envoys from all over were arriving to make peace and agreements with us, for nobody wanted our wrath to come down upon them like it has on every enemy of ours before.
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quick mod update: the guy who made the Armored Suebi units finally updated his mod for patch 5, and I am also now using the Close Combat mod in conjunction with the Radious mods. Not ideal but I work with what I got.
10-28-2013, 16:08
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
What do you get out of the mods that change the combat? If it helps, I tend to get the same numerical figures for after battle reports in the vanilla game =p
10-28-2013, 16:18
Amras
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
I noticed that you wrote what mods you used here and there. Which mods do you use right now?
10-28-2013, 18:29
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sp4
What do you get out of the mods that change the combat? If it helps, I tend to get the same numerical figures for after battle reports in the vanilla game =p
The killing speed has been reduced so battles now take about double the time they used to. Which is good enough for me right now, hopefully as time goes on it will get better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amras
I noticed that you wrote what mods you used here and there. Which mods do you use right now?
The Radious complete overhaul mod (includes AI, battle mod, campaign mod, economy&research, plus the different unit packs), the Close Combat 4.0 mod, the Armored Suebi mod, 4turns per year, loose formation for all units mod, Faction Uniform colors by Mitch, a better campaign camera mod, and a mod which enables me to zoom all the way down to ground level during battles.
10-28-2013, 20:54
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
How long do they take?
10-28-2013, 22:24
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Depends on the size and enemy composition. Obviously an medium/large enemy army of 2/3 light infantry will take about 10 minutes, give or take 2-3 minutes. I was doing a custom battle with mostly enemy medium-heavy infantry and it was about 16-20 minutes.
10-29-2013, 02:32
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Sixteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The Spears of Tyr marched on Genua, another lightly defended Roman settlement.
There were Bloodsworn among the soldiers, and they were just itching to have a crack at the Romans. As a diversion, we placed some men on the hill overlooking the town, while the rest were put in the forest, hidden.
The Romans sent a unit to scout us, and were quickly shattered, as our men ploughed through their marketplace, jumping over stalls, or in some cases, just knocking them over.
The cloak and dagger war was still going strong as well, and increasingly in our favor, although our public works projects in our new towns were being consistently undermined.
During this fight I returned to our lands to refit my army before we were to take Roma. During this time I heard that the oldest Shieldmaiden we had, Baldechildis, died at the old age of 65. She had served our people well, helping train my men from the very beginnings of my reign. She would be very missed, and I ordered a memorial to her be placed in the capital.
On the home front, I could tell that the other chiefs were not happy. There were murmurings of discontent and even rebellion. Some people were not happy for us going after the Romans, a people so foreign to us that some people viewed them as corrupt demons who would be our downfall.
Then I got word that there was an attempt on Friduric’s life. He survived, but it was proof that there was another storm brewing, not from the south, but from within.
On the horizon there was the Roman fortified town of Massalia, considered the jewel of Iberia. The Spears of Tyr were going to take it once Friduric recovered. It was going to be a tough fight, and there were numerous Roman armies out there to challenge us, but I have confidence in our arms.
The Romans were knocked down early in the war, but it seemed as if they were getting back up…
10-29-2013, 02:59
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Also a question for anyone who might know- does expanding too quickly hurt you in the long run? I had a surplus of about 20 food before this war, then after all the conquests it shot town to 2, then to 0, then up to 4. Probably because of all the unrest and sabotage preventing my new provinces from producing food, so I find that interesting how that has been put into the game. Though I do think that "barbarians" and especially nomads should be able to expand much more rapidly than the more "civilized" nations.
10-29-2013, 05:25
Bramborough
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
Also a question for anyone who might know- does expanding too quickly hurt you in the long run? I had a surplus of about 20 food before this war, then after all the conquests it shot town to 2, then to 0, then up to 4. Probably because of all the unrest and sabotage preventing my new provinces from producing food, so I find that interesting how that has been put into the game. Though I do think that "barbarians" and especially nomads should be able to expand much more rapidly than the more "civilized" nations.
In the long run, I don't see any reason why the pace of expansion would matter. Just a matter of managing the short-term challenges of unrest, culture differences, etc.
By the way, nice job with the agents, they're kicking butt. Is that all spies doing the conversions, or do you have other agents working too?
I use champs almost exclusively in armies for training and march-distance buff, which I think is probably pretty common. My dignitaries, however, I've been using for civil administration in home provinces last couple of campaigns. Individually their income boost is modest, but when you've got all of them working the wealthiest provinces, it makes a real difference. Still, not sure this is the best use for them.
10-29-2013, 08:47
Myth
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
Also a question for anyone who might know- does expanding too quickly hurt you in the long run? I had a surplus of about 20 food before this war, then after all the conquests it shot town to 2, then to 0, then up to 4. Probably because of all the unrest and sabotage preventing my new provinces from producing food, so I find that interesting how that has been put into the game. Though I do think that "barbarians" and especially nomads should be able to expand much more rapidly than the more "civilized" nations.
There are no downsides except for maybe declaring too many wars at once and reaching the "mass DOW threshold" the AI seems to have. If you're big enough you won't care either way, but your turns will become a lot slower due to having to fight more battles.
There is no particular benefit in capturing more than two settlements per turn unless you have the gold to outfit the new ones with sturctures (exclusions apply to ones of your own culture which you don't have to convert ASAP) + have the gold to continune troop recruitment.
Barbarian factions should expand quickly but in-game they have no particular edge for that. In fact, Rome and the hellenistic factions tend to do better because of their easier access to good infantry (paramount to taking cities). And as a disadvantage to the barbarians, their PO boosting city center building is very high up the tech tree and offers comparatively lower boosts to PO, so they will face more PO problems than the "civilized" factions.
10-29-2013, 14:00
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bramborough
By the way, nice job with the agents, they're kicking butt. Is that all spies doing the conversions, or do you have other agents working too?
Considering that the enemy agents were consistently sabotaging me, it was all hands on board: spies, dignitaries, and champions.
EDIT: after some more playtesting I decided to remove the Close Combat mod. I noticed that while the high-level units stuck out the battle more, the lower level tiers routed much faster. I think that the combo of Radious and Close combat does this, Im stuck with the Radious battle mod, so oh well. I also pre-ordered the blood pack so next update you shall see bloody and gory action!
10-31-2013, 10:58
Myth
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
Considering that the enemy agents were consistently sabotaging me, it was all hands on board: spies, dignitaries, and champions.
EDIT: after some more playtesting I decided to remove the Close Combat mod. I noticed that while the high-level units stuck out the battle more, the lower level tiers routed much faster. I think that the combo of Radious and Close combat does this, Im stuck with the Radious battle mod, so oh well. I also pre-ordered the blood pack so next update you shall see bloody and gory action!
What kind of a graphics card do you have?
10-31-2013, 13:11
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Geforce GT 640 w/ 2GB of VRAM, but my processor is the strength, its a i7 at 2.3ghz with turbo boost up to 3.3ghz.
10-31-2013, 14:01
Myth
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
Geforce GT 640 w/ 2GB of VRAM, but my processor is the strength, its a i7 at 2.3ghz with turbo boost up to 3.3ghz.
I have the same processor (dual quad I think) but my video card is the culprit. GTX 570 with 1GB.
11-01-2013, 00:03
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Seventeen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
There were a number of Aedui forces hanging around the border between them and the Romans, so Ricfried, considering Octuduron to be safe from Roman attack, took his Bloodsworn and began to march towards Massalia. Unfortunately a Roman spy managed to poison the wells while the Bloodsworn were in camp, sickening many of his men. To make things worse, our scouts reported a number of Roman armies approaching, one of them large. Our spies tried everything they could do to hinder their advance, but it looked like the Bloodsworn would be attacked by overwhelming Roman forces.
During this time my army finished refitting and was returning back to the front lines when I heard that a family member, Leuthard, had died from old age, reminding me of my advancing age. Hopefully I will live to see the day that our army marches victorious into Roma.
Then we got word that the larger Roman army, Legio XV Alpina, had advanced towards Genua and had made camp merely a two days march from the town. Perhaps they did not know that we had captured the town? Whatever the reason, they seemed unaware of our presence. Ricfried’s army was too far away to attack, so it was up to the Spears of Tyr to defeat that army, with a little help from our agents who were secretly poisoning their wells.
The day of battle was a sunny one. It was the kind of day I would bring my family to sit outside, bring some food, and enjoy the weather. But today there was killing to do.
As we formed up we could see the Roman dogs in the distance, maneuvering into the best formation they think will stop our juggernaut.
The Roman front line was units of Roman city guards conscripted to march with the main army. Why they did this seems unwise, as they were mercilessly slaughtered by our experienced warriors.
The center was a different story. We were facing off against the heavily armored Roman legionaries, some of the finest professional soldiers in the world. We were evenly matched in that melee, with neither side giving an inch.
The enemy army was completely wiped out. By our count there were only eighty survivors, who scattered into the countryside. We also captured over two-hundred Romans. We executed them and sent their heads on a ship to Roma. We do not take prisoners.
But there were more Roman armies on the horizon. Our spies report that there are numerous very large Roman armies at sea, waiting for the opportune moment to land and wreak havoc.
Meanwhile the Aedui armies had taken the Roman town of Nemossos and were now advancing towards Massalia. Or Genua. Hopefully Massalia. We do not need an ally backstabbing us now.
Our progress towards Roma had slowed to a halt. We would have to resume our progress quickly; otherwise we might face much stronger Roman armies. The Romans were clearly regrouping and counter-attacking. We had to regain our momentum, and I had just the plan to do so.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Also, does anyone know if I can increase the bloodiness of my battles? Right now they seem kind of tame from what I've seen in other screenshots. Im on high/very high graphics so I don't know what gives.
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Don't know, I noticed the same thing in my Pontus campaign today. Yours actually seem even a little tamer. Possibly because many of my settings are on Ultra, perhaps. It doesn't bother me, I didn't really want the over-the-top silliness seen in some S2 screenshots...but then, it doesn't look like the R2 screenshots we've seen either. I'm happy with it as is, so reluctant to play the "false adverstising!" card...but I'd understand if others did so.
Great chapter regardless. I've noticed that your style has a much higher "screenshot-per-battle" ratio than mine. I think the fundamental difference is that I try to get 1-2 screenies for good illustrations to accompany the story, while you seem to usually take enough shots to tell the story on their own.
11-01-2013, 03:09
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Yeah Ive noticed that as well, and I admire the hell out of your ability to write so much, whereas I tend to, as you put it, rely much more on pictures. As I remember thats always hows it been for my AARs. Simple and easy to read has been my style as long as I can remember.
You also go at a faster pace, where oftentimes I will only cover one maybe two battles in a chapter. Thankfully tomorrow begins the weekend and it brings new chapters!
11-01-2013, 21:17
Sp4
1 Attachment(s)
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Why are the swords always bent like this? It looks kind of silly XD
11-01-2013, 21:24
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Interesting, I never noticed that. Always assumed it was lying across the stone.
11-01-2013, 21:34
Sp4
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
No it's like a Z shape.
11-01-2013, 21:41
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Well now I see it. I just want to know how they got that sword in there.
11-02-2013, 04:59
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Eighteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
In order to regain our initial momentum, we would have to overwhelm their defenses like we did at the start, hit them multiple times in quick succession and they will be thrown off guard. My plan, which I called the Leuthard Plan after the recently deceased Leuthard, involves at least two armies on the attack. One of the armies would by my army, the Champions of Wōdanaz, and the Wolves of War would be the frontline armies. Meanwhile, the Fires of Surt would be sent town to defend Patavium. I would first take the town of Velathri while the Wolves of War would take Ariminum. After each town was taken we would converge on Roma and take the city.
But as the saying goes, man makes plans and the gods laugh.
Initially our scouts reported that there was an increased Roman military presence around Velathri and Ariminum, but it would be nothing that our armies couldn’t handle.
Though it was the Roman naval forces were the ones that concerned me, I was confident that the Spears of Tyr could handle it, though to be safe I moved my men closer to Genua.
Due to some tactical feints, the Romans made us believe they were coming from the north, when in fact, shrouded by the heavy fog, they came from the east. So while they were forming up for attack, we were forming up on the wrong side of our camp!
As our main lines clashed, we realized that Roman reinforcements were coming in from the north. We had to reposition our lines quickly or we would soon find ourselves surrounded.
While we were trying to reposition our forces, a unit of Roman legionaries broke through our lines and charged straight for the vulnerable camp. Our units were able to chase them down and defeat them before they got there but it showed we had major holes in our defenses. It was a tough battle, but it seemed like the worst was over.
The new Roman reinforcements consisted mainly of elite Roman infantry and a unit of elite Roman gladiators. The initial unit of spear brothers which were sent to counter them were soon overwhelmed and had to withdraw.
One Roman unit broke away and made a mad dash for the camp, apparently trying to kill our general, but a unit of spear brothers caught them before they could achieve their goal.
We had won the battle, but at serious cost. One of our units of light cavalry was completely annihilated. They fought bravely, killing as many Romans as they could before they fell to the more heavily armored Romans, but they were entirely wiped out. A number of our units of spear brothers were decimated, although not totally destroyed, so that is the silver lining I suppose. But in the end, we had come out victorious and the Romans were on the run again.
But with good news always comes bad news. Scouts reported that near Akink was a massive horde of Ardiaei soldiers. Our estimates are in the tens of thousands. I fear greatly for the garrisons in the area. We do not know what their intentions are, but since they are allied with Rome and enemies of ours, it cannot be good for us.
We began to raise emergency armies of heavy spearmen around our lands to prepare for this Greek invasion. I needed to take Roma and end this war with the Romans as soon as I could. A day after I got word of our victory near Ariminum, a Roman assassin attacked me in my camp. He came at me with a hidden blade, concealed in his sleeves. Thankfully, he only nicked me in the side, it was startling to see just how determined the Romans were to defeat us. I was beginning to feel that we had bitten off more than we could chew with this war…
EDIT: Authors note:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
I had hoped to take Roma by chapter 20, but I guess that wont be happening now... :wall:
11-03-2013, 04:59
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Nineteen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Less than a week after the first attack, the Wolves of War were attacked again by another numerically superior force.
After what happened last time, we had put up barriers and traps on the entrances, and our Spear Masters were braced for impact. Due to the close quarters our Noble cavalrymen decided to dismount to be most effective.
The Romans came from the west first, which was where our defenses were weakest; the other entrances had spikes guarding them. The western entrance, on the other hand, only had a flimsy wooden barrier. The barriers didn’t hold for very long against the over two thousand Roman troops pushing their way in. We threw more men into the fray, hoping to turn them back. Our warriors tried their hardest to push back the horde of Romans but they could not hold back everyone. It was as if they were trying to hold back a tidal wave with a couple of rocks. For a while it seemed as if the Romans would push through and all would be lost.
But finally after throwing enough men into the fray, the tide turned, and the Romans began to fall back. It was a vicious fight; blood was covering the ground and even the palisades of the fort and the entrance was clogged with bodies.
Then came the second wave, coming from the south. Celtic mercenaries came first, and they were torn to ribbons whilst throwing themselves against the spike defenses and our spears.
Holding back the second wave was not as difficult as the first time, though some Roman cavalry did manage to get through, and they were swiftly cut down.
Our men chased down whoever they could catch up to, killing those who resisted, and killing those who surrendered. We would show no quarter in this war, and we expected none.
Meanwhile near Akink, the Ardiaei had not made a move towards the town yet, making us very nervous. Hopefully nothing will come of this, but knowing our track record, I figure something will happen soon…
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Awesome battle and screenies.
I'm kinda amused how the Romans' generally red-colored attire kinda lessens the visual impact of the blood. Perhaps this was intentional for morale reasons? I've read that the British Army in the 18th/19th century were "redcoats" for precisely this reason (perhaps myth, but sounds reasonable).
A related piece of naval trivia; the modern US Navy (and probably others) even today paints its ships' machinery room bilge areas (i.e., below the lower deck grating) a shade called "terracotta red". Today it's essentially just "tradition"...a kind way of saying "uh, well we've always painted it that way." The origin, however, was from 18th/19th century sailing warships, in which the interior bulkheads and lower decks were so painted to mute the visibility of blood running down from the upper weather and gun decks. Anyone who has visited USS Constitution at Boston has probably seen this paint shade in the lower decks. I assume the USN copied this practice from the Royal Navy, although I don't know that for fact. We certainly inherited a lot of other traditions and honors/ceremonies from the RN.
(I served in the engineering departments of four ships...saw a lot of terracotta red in my day.)
11-03-2013, 15:55
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
As I recall correctly, the Romans didnt really use red for their uniforms until the Marian reforms, due to there being a lack of a professional army. In fact the standard color of tunics for the Romans pre-Marian was off-color white.
11-06-2013, 05:20
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Twenty
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
En route to Velathri, I received devastating news. Baldovin, one of my top generals and more importantly, one of my closest friends, died from a long bout of winter sickness. I will surely miss him, and it merely reminded me of my advancing age.
It has been a long and rough road for us. From a seemingly unending war with small Gallic tribes to a siege assault almost ending in disaster, the end was in sight. We had defeated all of the Roman armies standing in our way to Roma. We can finally proceed with the Leuthard Plan and wreak vengeance for all of our dead who have fallen to Roman swords along this bloody path to the streets of gold.
The Wolves of War, fresh from their victory over the last Roman army to oppose them, descended upon Ariminum with a blood thirst that could only be cured by spilling more Roman blood. They would certainly satiate that thirst in the coming battle.
The majority of our men were deployed behind a hill, luring the Romans into a false sense of security, with a few of them posted in full view, hoping that the Roman garrison would be enticed out of the relative safety of their streets.
The Wolves of War chased down the fleeing Romans with a fury that I could only describe as fearsome. Everyone in that army had lost friends, and they were eager to avenge them that day.
Then it was time to take Velathri. This was the first combat my men had seen since taking the town of Vesontio and after well over a year of stagnating in a city, some said that we had gotten soft. My men were eager to prove the naysayers wrong.
But eventually we ran out of ammunition and I sent in the men, who were frothing at the mouth to get their chance to kill some Romans. They got their wish.
I rode in close to the melee so I could observe better, but I let the younger men do the fighting for now. Their bloodlust was greater than mine was, and I let them satiate their thirst before I would partake.
Even from where I was I could see it was a bloodbath. I could see that my men were dismembering Romans left and right. Blood had stopped being soaked into the dirt roads and turned it to mud under their feet.
The remaining few Romans tried to flee but we did not let them. We hunted them down, whether they ran towards the surrounding hills or if they tried to hide in their houses. Those who resisted were slaughtered immediately without quarter. Those who fled were captured then hung on stakes around the town as a warning to the others. Was it brutal? Sure, but this is warfare. The inhabitants of friendly towns who had been visited by the Romans before the war told us that the Romans were just as brutal when dealing with “barbarian” locals. The Romans called us barbarians, but as they say in their own tongue, “Quisque est barbarus alio”- everyone is a barbarian to someone. Just as we were barbarians to them, they were just as barbaric to us.
Meanwhile, near Akink, most the Ardiaei armies seem to have left. I, along with my commanders, am puzzled by this development. Maybe they see the coming defeat of the Romans and are deciding to pull back? I do not know; we do not know enough about them to see whether this was just a feint or them deciding a war with us was not in their best interests. Which it is not, for once we defeat the Romans, we are coming after them.
As I rested in Velathri, surveying the carnage that covered the town and planning our next moves, I could hear the voice again. It had risen to a crescendo now, occupying most of my thoughts. The only time it was quiet was when I was leading my army in battle. It was almost yelling at me to keep my momentum, march on Roma, kill those who opposed me. I have decided to give into the voice, to Wōdanaz. The path to Roma was already a bloody one, and I was about to make it bloodier.
So now that we are nearing the capture of Roma, do people want me to continue past the capture of Roma or should I end it at that and start a new campaign with a new faction?
11-06-2013, 11:27
Alcibiade
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
On the horizon there was the Roman fortified town of Massalia, considered the jewel of Iberia
Sorry to nitpick, as I really like those AARs but was really Massilia considered as the jewel of Iberia ? It seem a bit odd considering it's southern Gaul localisation and its phocean/greeck origins....
Please never say something like this in front of Marseilles's football 's team supporters !!! I don't know in which crazy situation you would find yourself talking RTW with them, but we never knows....
11-06-2013, 15:04
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alcibiade
Sorry to nitpick, as I really like those AARs but was really Massilia considered as the jewel of Iberia ? It seem a bit odd considering it's southern Gaul localisation and its phocean/greeck origins....
Please never say something like this in front of Marseilles's football 's team supporters !!! I don't know in which crazy situation you would find yourself talking RTW with them, but we never knows....
No clue, but considering that in the game Massalia is almost the size of Roma, I embellished it a bit.
11-07-2013, 02:44
Hooahguy
Re: On the Path to the Streets of Gold: A Suebi AAR
Chapter Twenty-one
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
After I captured Velathri I decided it was best we moved quickly to take Roma. The Romans had a number of fleets at sea with enough soldiers to cause some problems for us so I wanted to take Roma before they were able to land and reinforce the garrison. Because they might counter-attack with a substantial force, The Wolves of War and the Bloodsworn arrived to reinforce my army, and with our combined force we assaulted the city.
As I stood on the hill overlooking the city I could tell that it was a beautiful. It had a radiance to it like no other city which I have seen before. The marble buildings with their pillars shone in the early evening sun, even from afar. Maybe this city was really made out of gold and silver. I have never known stone to shine like that, only metals of the more valuable nature. And polished iron, I suppose. Regardless, I was determined to leave as much of Roma intact as I could.
I set up the ballistas right next to a hill which concealed us from the formidable Roman defenses. They had catapults and heavy ballistas all along the wall, which would have destroyed any attacking army. But they neglected to deploy them in one place: the southern gate, which is where we would use our ballistas to breach the walls.
Roman skirmishers were on the walls, preparing to rain javelins upon us, while Roman “scorpions” shot heavy bolts into the massive horde of Suebi warrior that meant their doom. Those scorpions took a heavy toll on our men; almost nine hundred of our warriors fell to those heavy bolts during the battle.
But the Roman garrison rallied and charged our men as we were forming up to take the rest of the city. But they were simply city watchmen, feeble twigs compared to our experienced warriors. They fell quickly to our swords and spears.
Finally the more experienced Roman soldiers arrived, forming a roof with their shields to protect them from our javelins. But that didn’t help, and we cut them down just like we did the rest.
While most of our men were chasing down the remainder of the garrison in the streets, I sent men to the walls to slaughter the Roman skirmishers who were harassing us.
As I rode Sleipnir through the city, I took in the sights of the (former) capital of one of the (formerly) most powerful nations in the world. It was a beautiful city— from afar, that is. Looks are deceiving. Up close, it was rather bland. Our cities were much more pleasant than this. The streets were far from being paved with gold and silver. The streets were paved with small rocks, not the gold that my dreams said they would be. Aside from the smell of blood, which radiated from the general direction of the southern gate, I could smell the stench of feces and garbage in the less-wealthy areas of the city. Parts of the Roma were run-down and in disrepair, evident of a government that was strained for money from our war with them. Nothing was shining with gold, silver, or even bronze. Except the homes of the Roman elite, that is. They, along with the government buildings, were shining in the setting sunlight from the brilliant white marble they were made of. But this was far from being made of gold and silver.
This was not what I had dreamed of. The dreams lied to me. The stories lied to me. I had lied to myself. I walked through the governor’s palace and the other government buildings. There was gold and silver there, but not much. Most of it had seemingly been removed before we arrived, taken by fleeing wealthy Romans who could afford to escape the city before we laid siege to it.
Anger, the likes of which I had never experienced before, rose in me.
The voice, which had stayed silent from the time we laid siege to the city, spoke to me again, telling me what I must do.
With a face twisted in anger, I addressed my captains:
“Sack this city! Take everything valuable you can find! Destroy every trace that these decadent Romans ever stepped foot into this city! I want to see Roma in flames, burning into the night!”
As I watched the fires from our encampment, the voice in my head was silent, though I was still livid. So many lives of my countrymen have been lost for this, and for what? A city of garbage and corruption? Until this moment I did not hate the Romans; in fact I respected them for their many achievements. But not anymore. Hate consumes me now. I will spend the rest of my life on this world removing what is left of the Romans! There can be no peace, no peace with Romans, men of stone, and iron, and lies! There can be only war!
