The Antigonids : A Makedonian AAR

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

The Antigonid Dynasty

Greetings! I was play-testing a campaign of the interal version and was bored, so I decided to make an AAR. I was just going to try to keep all new content out of the AAR or limit it to distant shots, but it was quite difficult to do so. So I'm going to just wait until release day to post the first chapter so as not to spoil the new stuff for everyone. Which means that this may be continued tommorrow or it may be continued in a couple months...

I wanted to make an AAR with as many pictures as writing, but since I don't want to spoil anything and since I didn't take many picture during the first couple decades, here's my long pictureless introduction:

Introduction: The Reign of Antigonos
In the year 272BC, by the Christian calender, Makedonia was in chaos. Pyrrhos of Epieros was in control of the inland cities and was ready to take complete control of Makedonia, overthrowing Antigonos. But at the last moment Pyrhhos himself, saved Makedonia. In a trademark Pyrhhos decission, Pyrhhos left one war half done and moved his armies to invade Illyria. For the moment, Makedonia was spared.

Antigonos took the opertunity to quickly consolidate power amoungst the Hellens. Every city state to the south was rebellious, even those loyal to Antigonos would inevitably revolt. But two cities stood above the rest, Athenai and Sparte, if they fell the rest of the cities would fall as well. So Antigonos took his combined forces and besieged the ancient city of Athenai. Within the year, it had fallen. Antigonos entered the city and told its people that he had come to free them. He quickly set up the politician Karpophoros as tyrant, loyal to the Makedonian throne. Antigonos insured the Athenians that they were free and showed this by moving the entire garrison out of the city. Though in truth, the garrison was needed to confront the Spartan menance to south.

[picture of years later]
Antigonos quickly moved to finish off the Spartans before they could receive reinforcements from Rhodos or Crete. Though, apon besieging the town, the Spartans sent for help from one of their armies stationed near Elis. And so, the following season three Spartan armies attacked Antigonos as he beseiged their home. The battle was tough, but in the end the field was filled with Spartan dead:

Meanwhile in the north, Epieros had failed to subdue the Illyrian tribed and had renewed its attack on Makedonia. Alkyoneus, son of Antigonos had managed to repulse several attacks, but with every attack the defenders of Makedonia grew weaker. Antigonos quickly set up a local puppet ruler in Sparte and force marched his men north. The forces of Antigonos and Makedonia joined together and Antigonos and Alkyoneus marched on Epieros, leaving Antigonos' younger brother Kalos to oversee Pella.

An alliance was made with Rome, who had made several failed attempts to keep Epieros out of Italy, and war began in Epieros. After several years of war, Epieros was conquered and Pyrrhos and one of his sons were all that was left, wandering Illyria (Taras the only city still loyal to them). Alkyoneus and the remaining Thessalian Cavalry confronted the two generals and their tiny army outside the Illyrian village of Dalminion and brought an end to the Kingdom of Epieros:

So Antigonos returned to Pella as victor and ruler of all of Greece. Several years of peace followed, as Antigonos rebuilt the shattered economy of Makedonia. During this time, Alkyoneus easily annexed Dardanoia, north of Makedonia. Peace didn't last. The Aitolian League started causing unrest in the south, so Antigonos once again marched to war. Aitolia fell quickly to Antigonos, then the troublesome city of Byzantion was next. Alkyoneus managed to make an alliance with the Celtic city of Tylis, setting up a Makedonian friendly leader. Meanwhile Byzantion fell to Antigonos.

Tired of war [he actually got Unsatisfied Supervisor from fighting ], Antigonos once again returned to Pella to rule in peace. Around this time, Demetrios returned to Pella, after completing his Agoge training with the Spartans. Ready for war, Antigonos gave him command of his own army and order him to kill the Spartan king who had been hiding in Crete, as well as conquer the island while there. Soon the island fell and Demetrios confronted the Spartan king of the eastern shores of Crete:

[I took this picture because it reminded me of Mount Suribachi]
The Rhodian fleet that they were expecting never came, as it had been sunken by the Pergamon fleet [Pirates] the year before. By the end of the day, the Spartans lay dead in the rising tide.

Puppet rulers were quickly set up in Crete and Demetrios sailed on Rhodos, who had assisted the Spartans for decades. During this time, Antigonos' elder brother, who had been governor of Epieros decided that it was time to conquer Illyria and all of its resources. So he and his sons assemble an army, mostly made up of veterans of Alkyoneus' conquests, and marched on Illyria. Before long, they had conquered all the way to the edge of the Roman Cisalpine Gallia territory. Frightened by a powerful enemy on their border, Roma attacked Illyria. The tiny Roman army was quickly repulsed and the Roman Senate pleaded for peace with Makedonia. When Rhodos fell, Demetrios returned home with his army and peace continued until around 245BC.

Around 250-140BC, the Syrian Wars made a drastic change. With the fall of Babylonia to Ptolemai, the Seleukia Empire, long time allies of Antigonos, began to crumble. Soon, all of Asia was shifting to Ptolemai control, threatening, not only the balance of power, but the future goals of Antigonos. Seeking allies, Antigonos sent diplomats to the Galatians [Arverni - Galatia kept alternating between being conqered by Pontos and rebelling to Arverni] and acquired an alliance. In Pella, an army of Pezhetairoi was assembled and Antigonos and Demetrios invaded Asia. The same year that Nikaia fell to Makedonia, Sardis and Ipsos fell to the Ptolemaioi. Before they could establish full control of their new regions, Antigonos struck at the Ptolemai. In the same year both Phrygia and Lydia fell to Makedonia and Antigonos prepared to invade Syria. But Antigonos' plans were cut short, in the winter of 242-241BC Antigonos died peacefully in the the palace of Sardis:

Makedonia was left in crisis. Demetrios was clearly the better general and ruler, but Alkyoneus had long been the heir to the throne. Who was the rightful next king of Makedonia?

The known world upon the death of Antigonos:

Next: Chapter 1: The Two Kings

[Bootsiuv]

We already know you guys are coming out with the release any day now.

Come on guy....you can tell us. :)

Anyways, great aar. I can't wait until tomorrow when I can read the rest!

:P

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

To be honest, I have no idea when EBv1.0 will be released. There have been so many different dates shooting around internally and I haven't been around enough lately to read every single debate.

[Bootsiuv]

I'll take that with a grain of salt....I don't trust team members at release time...your all masters of the propagandist arts.

*all joking aside, I just like to speculate....whenever it's released, I'm sure it will be worth the wait*

[Detlef]

Lovely AAR, will be watching this one...

[Karo]

Yes a new AAR can't wait to read you're first chapter. And kick those Hellens to hell

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

With the release, I will post the update to this when I get to my other computer with the data. Though, this was done on a version tht isn't v1.0 (it's something like v.0.97), so I don't think I'll continue this for too long. Plus people will be too busy playing EB to read it anyways.

[Bootsiuv]

I'll read it....I like the dynasty style, that's why I did mine that way...make sure you start another one....mine is dead. Maybe I'll start a new one later, but I might focus on the manual and succession game instead.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 1 : The Two Kings

In 241BC, Antigonos Gonatos died peacefully in the newly conquered town of Sardis. His dream of uniting the Hellens and building a Makedonian Empire was completed. His Empire was the second strongest in the known world, only challenged by the Egyptian Kingdom of the Ptolemaioi. In Athenai and Sparte, he had set up Makedonian loyal tyrants and established garrisons to watch of the the Hellens. Eventually even having to set up a puppet in Korinthos due to unrest.



In the west, the sons of Antigonos' elder brother guarded Illyria from the Romans, who had begun to set their eyes apon territory outside of Italia:

But now the kingdom was on the verge of being torn apart. Two of Antigonos three sons were capible of becoming king and ruling. Alkyoneus had been a politian and domestic ruler, while Demetrios was a general, a conqueror, and a hero. Demetrios had clear support and could have easily taken the throne, but he did not wish to see his father's kingdom, which he had fought so hard for, torn apart in a brotherly conflict.

In the end it was decided that they would share the throne. Alkyoneus would rule from Pella and Demetrios would be General of the Armies. With civil war avoided, both men sought to gain support and fame among the peoples they ruled. Both gathered their armies and set out to expand their father's kingdom.

Alkyoneus quickly gathered an army in Makedonia and marched north to join up with some allies in Tylis. The two great armies that had been assembled by his father were both deploid far away and Alkyoneus was forced to quickly assemble an army of mediocry skills. For years Kallatis, a Greek colony had sought assistance from anyone who would listen. Kallatis had suffered raids and seiges for over a decade from the Getic Federation to the north of Makedonia. Antigonos hadn't wanted to risk war and had not answered their request, but Alkyoneus knew saving fellow Greeks from barbarian hordes would give him the fame he needed and risked the chance of war:

In the east, Demetrios assembled his veterans and marched them east, to continue his father's war with the Ptolemaioi. The Ptolemaioi hadn't expected Antigonos to come to the assistance of the Arche Seleukia and was suprised and outnumbered in Asia. Demetrios continued with that suprise and marched on Pamphylia before reinforcements could arrive from Egypt.

The Battle of Side
After besieging the city of Side for a few months, the Ptolemaioi attacked Demetrios on some rolling hills just west of the city:

Demetrios set up his phalanx in a single row, with his Thracian skirmishers in the front and his Thurophoroi on the flanks. With the archers and slinger behind on a slope. To the front was the small army that had initiated the battle, to the left was their reinforcements from the city:

As the enemy marched forward, skirmishers, archers, and slingers fired a couple volleys at the enemy:

As soon as the enemy got in skirmishing range, the Thracians fell back to keep casualties to a minimum:

The enemy Thorikatai charged the pikes of Demetrios' Pezhetairoi but quickly fled. The enemy Kleurchi engaded the Pezhetairoi:

As the enemy army broke, the entire line reformed to face the incoming reinforcements while Demetrios and the Thessalian Cavalry chased down the routing enemies. Soon after forming up, the enemy general and his Hetairoi rammed the Pezhetairoi line, breaking through. Seeing the problem, the Thurophoroi and Thracians charged in to quickly fill the gap:

The enemy line of mostly Jews crashed into the Pezhetairoi's pikes. The Ptolemaic general quickly withdrew to aviod being surrounded and the Thurophoroi and Thracians gave chase and engadged them:

The spears and Thracian falx quickly cut through the Hetairoi and eventually the general fell:

The remaining enemies quickly broke and Demetrios and the cavalry quickly chased them down. Only the cowards charged with the protection of their general managed to escape:

And so Side fell to Demetrios:

Next Chapter 2: The Two Battles of Pergamon
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I think there is only one thing that would have been a leak in this update. I was going to include another battle, with a new unit, but I decided to include it in the next update.

PS Sorry for the slow load speeds. I was trying to post high quality pictures.

[paullus]

good writing, nice story, and great screenies...keep it up!

[Moros]

You already showed one new unit. Not in the battle though. Not that it matters anymore.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 2: The Two Battles of Pergamon

In the North, Alkyoneus arrived in the colony of Kallatis and set up his garrison. The following season, an army of the Getic Federation arrived. After surveying the new garrison, they withdrew. Kallatis held a festival for Alkyoneus, happily unaware he intended to make his garrison perminent.

In Side, Demetrios begins setting up a government and reinforcing his possition.

The First Battle of Pergamon


To the west, Kalos, the younger brother of Antigonos assembled a small army from Byzantion and allied Mytilene. Antigonos had given Kalos and his sons the job of governing the newly conquered areas of Asia, but Kalos wanted a capital. Sardis had been the Seleukia seat of power but decades of warfare had cost the area most of its granduer and depleted its population. So Kalos looked to the rising city of Pergamon as a place he could set up power. But under estimated the power of Pergamon. The city Pergamon had managed to consolidate power over all of Mysia and gained quite a lot of strength while Kalos had yet to prove himself in battle.

Even before the battle start, Kalos knows exactly what he is going to do. Kalos prepares his Peltasts and Mercenary Celtic Hoplites to punch through the wall. Once there is a hole, the Hoplites from allied cities will charge in and take the city. The rams approach the wall:


Before long, the weak walls of the city fall:


The Celtic Hoplites and Peltast quickly rush through the two holes in the walls and attempt to gain superiority inside the city. The defenders quickly go to counter the invaders. On the right flank they counter with Peltasts and Thracian Mercenaries, while on the left flank Ennomos, the King of Pergamon himself, leads the charge:



Soon, that battle begins to turn against Kalos, but not having secured the walls yet, Kalos continues to hold the Hoplites in reserve, as the Petasts and Celts die:


Before long things turn for against the Makedonian forces on the left flank and the men begin to flee. The King pursues, and even after regrouping, the entire left flank is wiped out:



Seeing his units fleeing, Kalos panics and withdraws:

[You'll notice I still have to old general. I updated and started playing this campaign about a hour before the new generals were integrated.]

Noticing their general fleeing, and not having any deep loyalty to the dying Makedonians in the city, the allied Hoplites decide to flee as well. And so, King Ennomos chasing them off the field:



Kalos falls back, in defeat, to the allied city of Mytilene. Neither ruler willing to repremand their own uncle, Kalos goes without punishment but does not attempt another attack on Pergamon.

Before too long, a garrison, recruited from amongst the Hellens, arrives in Side and fortifies the city from Ptolemai counterattack. Demetrios hands command of the city over to a cousin and moves his army of professional soldiers westwards now, to deal with those who appose Makedonian claims to Asia:


First, Demetrios marches through Lysia, making sure every local knows who is the new King of these lands. Demetrios then continues on to Karia and the city of Halicarnassos, north of Rhodos. The city of Halicarnassos had seen hardship while the Seleucids and Ptolemai ruled the area. When Antigonos had invaded Lydia, the Ptolemai became weakened and the city of Halicarnassos had managed to gain its independence once more, but it had not lasted. After about a year of seige, the city surrendered to Demetrios. The rest of south-west Asia followed soon after.

Meanwhile, Alkyoneus had not found the war he was expecting. The Getic Federation had withdrawn from the coastal Hellenic colonies and had instead begun subjugating tribes west of them. Even to the west of Makedonian territory, there was no activity. The Romans had finally accepted the Makedonian claim on Illyria and were bogged down fighting over Sicilia. The only changes in the Makedonian Kingdom lay to the east, where his brother continued to gain notoriety. With Kallatis secured, Alkyoneus returns to administer the Kingdom from Pella.

As the Makedonians expanded, they continued to encounter new things: new peoples, new soldiers, new customs. The most interesting and most profitable new thing was, however, new trade. As Asia fell to Antigonos and Demetrios, new trade possibilities began to open up with the Galatians, Cappadocians, Pontos, Armenia, the Seleucids, and Hellenic colonies. Though, with new trade came another new item: new diseases. As trade came through Ipsos in Phrygia, a new disease began to spread amongst its inhabidents, a disease that would last years:


To the east, Seleucid control in the region was about to break. As the Ptolemaioi and the Seleucids fought for control of Cappadocia, the fledgling kingdom of Pontos began to expand. For years they had been a menance to Greek colonies, but recently they had been attempting to subjugate the Galatians as well as expand into western Armenia. Demetrios made sure to watch bothe the Diadochi struggle and the rising power in Pontos:


The Second Battle of Pergamon
Soon, only Pergamon dominated Mysia remained disloyal to the Makedonian Kings. An new Makedonian fleet had been built and Demetrios was quick to use his advantage. He quickly ordered the sinking of the Pergamon fleet [pirates that hung out in the Aegean] and the blockading of the primary port in Mysia. Then Demetrios and his army of Pezhetairoi marched north from Halicarnassos and beseiged the city of Pergamon once more:


Unable to afford repairs, the Pergamon walls remained broken. Taking this weakness to his advantage, Demetrios decides to attack before the city can organize its defenses. The Thracians and Thureophoroi rush the breaches and enter the city. Though, unlike Kalos, Demetrios sends his elites to back them up:


Once again, fighting breaks out in two places just inside the city:


But this time, the Pezhetairoi make all the difference and crush the opposition:


Before long, the King lies dead in the city streets and the armies of Pergamon begin to retreat:


The Pezhetairoi retreave their sarrisas and march on the remaining forces in the city palace. A few counter attacks are attemped on the formation, but not success is gained by the defenders:


As the defenders make one last effort to counter attack, the Pezhetairoi charge the city square, surrounding the few who remain:


Before long, no defenders remain and the city falls:


For their rebelious attitudes and difficulty to conquer, as well as the difficulty it will take to subjugate them, a portion of the people of Pergamon are enslaved to be sent to Makedonia and Greece:


However, soon after, Demetrios sets up Ennomos' cousin as king and leaves the territory with its 'independence'. Demetrios and his army then boards the Makedonian navy and heads back to Makedonia to replenish his supplies, upgrade his weapons, replenish his loses, and maybe brag to his brother about his victories a little.

With the fall of Pergamon, Makedonia became one of the largest Kingdoms in the known world. And with the defeat of several Ptolemaioi armies at the hands of Makedonia's Seleucid allies, Makedonia now had the strongest military in the known world:


But, before long, the Ptolemaioi mounted their first counterattack...


The known world in 237BC:

Next: Chapter 3: Kilikia (aka what happens when you leave a battle going and leave the room)
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I wanted to play the first battle as an inept general, but it was actually hard to loose.

I know the idea of two guys sharing the throne is odd. I wish I could have had some sort of civil war, though I would amagine it would tear my kingdom apart. Alkyoneus would get Makedonia and Thrace. Demetrios would get Asia and the Aegean islands, as well as possible support from the Hellens. Though, I would amagine the Hellens would rebel and regain their independence. Illyria would probably be independant too. They are so removed and a distinct branch of the family, so I would amagine they would form their own little country.

But anyways, thanks for reading...

[Frodge]

Awesome AAR as per usual

[Admetos]

Great AAR Marcus, really enjoying it. Keep it up.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I just crop out the UI. I play on the highest detail settings and have a good graphics card, so that is the main reason for the appearance. But it might also have to do with the fact that I reduce the screenshop from the original size. The screenshots start as 1280x[whathaveyou] and I reduce them to 60% the size, then crop out the UI and any icons. I think the act of reducing them in size makes the appear more detail since they are denser in pixel count. When I want something from the UI includined in the picture, I juct cut and paste the part of the UI from the uncropped picture and put in the corner.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Super cool MAA!

It looks all fantastic and enticing, the new campaign map is so beautiful... I have a really big Makedonian empire at the moment but your AAR makes me want to play a new one from scratch. I'm such a moron I didn't download 1.0 yet to save my old campaign, but I'll think I do it right now.

Although perhaps I should start with a Sweboz campaign just for fun? Uhhhh... Thanks for steeling my life you EBers.

Edit: Does Makedonia have the Satrap-titles yet? Does it take long until they will be included?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 3: Kilikia

By the time word reaches Demetrios and Alkyoneus in Pella that Side is beseiged, it is too late for either of them to do anything. It falls apon the garrison of Greeks and allies to defend the town. One morning, the Ptoleamaioi are seen outside the city and it is decided that the garrison will sally out and confront the Ptolemaic army.

At first, it seems the Ptolemaioi will wait for the garrison to form up after quickly exiting the city:


But as soon as the Ptolemaioi see the size of the garrison and flanking Hoplites, they decide to run for the hills:


The Ptolemaioi fall back from Pamphylia, but the incident proves that they are not willing to relinquish their claims on Asia. Demetrios sends a diplomatic envoy, but at the same time prepares his army to march eastward. By the time the diplomats report failure, Demetrios is already across the Aegean. In less than a year, Demetrios arrives in Ptolemaic Kilikia and besieges the city of Tarsos. The seige is hardly started before Ptolemaic reinforcements arrive from Syria and attack Demetrios outside of Tarsos:


For the first time, Demetrios is faced with a large well trained army as his opponent. With the conquest of Syria & Babylonia, the Ptolemaioi have managed to acquire a considerable amount of wealth, which they seem more then eager to spend on well trained elite phalanxes to counter their enemies.

Demetrios sets up and a gentle slope at the edge of a plain and awaits the enemy:



Out front are possitioned the local mercenaries acquired during the march to Kilikia:


[Right here, I pushed 'P' and could have sworn that the game was paused. However, when I came back five minutes later, the battle was still going. Since the only thing that had happened is one unit was wiped out and a bunch of enemies had impaled themselves on my Pezhetairoi, I decided to just keep playing.]

Though loses were taken amongst the mercenaries, it soon became apparent that the Ptolemaic army had no discipline as they had failed to form up in an proper battle line:


Demetrios had his cavalry and his auxilary units move onto the flanks and await the proper moment for a pincer attack against the enemy:


The levies and farmers were no match for the well trained Makedonian Pezhetairoi, some even breaking and fleeing early in the battle:


However, the elites proved to be more of a match to the Makedonian line:


When the time was right, Demetrios signaled the flanking Thracians and Thureophoroi to attack the flanks of the disorganized enemy army. On the Makedonian left flank, they charged Galatians who were attempting to reform:


...and on the right flank they charged a group of disoranized elite pikemen:


As Demetrios chased down those who had fled, the Ptolemaic line began to crack, but it was not yet enough for them to break. With both flanks secured, the Makedonian phalanx broke formation and charged the engadged Ptolemaic flanks, assisting the medium infantry:



It was then that the Ptolemaic general decided to charge into the battle. But it was too late the help the battle sway in favor of the Ptolemaioi. Seeing the Ptolemaic cavalry tied down, Demetrios and the Thessalians charged their rear, wiping out half of the general's guards:


Soon, even the Makedonian center broke formation and charged in to finish off their enemy with their swords:


Surrounded and panicked, the Ptolemaioi were quickly wiped out, including their general:


But the Ptolemaic elites on the Makedonian's right flank won the respect of their enemies that day, as they stood to the last man, fighting to the death:



The battle marked a low point in Ptolemaic success. One of their three major armies in Syria had been wiped out and their last holding in Asia had fallen. With all of the defeats in Asia, Pharaoh had been lax in his war with the Seleucids. Seeing the weakness, the Arche Seleukeia, allies of Makedonia, started a campaign to retake Babylonia from the Ptolemaioi. Now the Ptolemaioi were facing a loosing battle on two fronts.

To the west both Carthage and Roma were powers that deserved to have an watchful eye alway apon, the the only real powers were Arche Seleukeia, the Ptolemaic Egyptians, and Makedonia. Arche Seleukeia had been seriously weaken by the Ptolemaioi and were now surrounded by rising powers to the north and to the east. The Ptolemaioi had now begun to suffer great loses of men and territory. Makedonia was now the most advanced faction in all of the known world:



With no war to call his own and his years continuing to add up, Alkyoneus decided it was time he dedicate himself to something new. In Pella and Athenai diplomats, explorers, and envoys were trained to go into the west. After they were trained, several groups went out north, west and south.

To the immediate west stood the alliance of Italian cities under the city of Roma. They were a violent people who never followed the rules of war. They always sought out new lands, even attacking Makedonian territories at one point, but they quickly learned not to try that again. East of the Romans stood the Kingdom of Makedonia. North of the Romans were the Boii, who securely held the areas north of the mountains.

South of the Romans was the Empire of Kart-Hadast, who had delivered many defeats against the Romans in the war for the island. News of the fate of Sicily arrived in Makedonia as it had fallen to Kart-Hadast soldiers:


Alkyoneus had wished to assist the enslaved and suppressed fellow Greeks, but Alkyoneus lacked the army and resouces need to both secure his northern borders and engadge in a foreign war. Though, it was at this time that he began to train a grand army that would surpass even his brother's army that had been assembled by their father. He would have an army that was supported by well trained veterans:


As the envoys and explorers continued west, they came to the last people who had been barring the Roman's expansion. To the west of the Romans stood the unified Gallic confederation of the Aedui. The Aedui had assisted their brothers in northern Italia when the Romans had invaded. Years later, the Romans engadged in an invasion of Gaul, to continue the war that had been started then:


Though the Romans were not enemies of Makedonia, they were definately not friends. Alkyoneus decided that it was best to do all that was in his power to undermine any chances that the Romans had. It was at this time that an alliance was made between the Gallic Confederation and Makedonia:


In the east, Demetrios prepared his army for another march eastward. Before their eyes was the land of Syria, with good Makedonian colonists, now suppressed by Ptolemaic overlords. But first, Demetrios had to wait for the garrison from Side to move east in order to watch over Kilikia.

North of Kilikia was the Seleucid territory of Cappadocia. This area had become isolated from the center of Seleucid power and took more money and men to hold against not only the Ptolemaioi but the fear of the growing powers of Pontos and the Kingdom of Hayasdan. Seeing the state of these lands, Demetrios decided to send diplomats to the Seleucid court and request the domain of the Cappadocians be turned over the the Makedonian crown. With a little Makedonian silver, the Seleucids quickly agreed:


It was around this time that one of the two remaining strong armies of the Ptolemai in Syria attempted another counter attack against Makedonian conquest. As the army approached Tarsos, where the Makedonian army had been camped, they stopped on a plain between two rivers. Wishing to avoid a defensive battle, Demetrios marched out of Tarsos to meet the Ptolemaioi on that plain:


The Ptolemaic army consisted of many elite units of Egypt. Amongst the elites were a selection of the Pharoah's royal guard. These men were adaptions of the Thureophoroi, taken to the extreme, but equiped with short pikes:


Even though Demetrios initiated the battle, the Ptolemaic elite army was not afraid and quickly became the agressors. The Ptolemaic line marched slowly toward the Makedonian line:


The Ptolemaic line approached the Makedonian line slowly, but suddenly stopped. The line regrouped and reformed before the Ptolemaic right flank continued forward to attack the Makedonian left flank, while the Ptolemaic left flank stood their ground and waited:


As the two lines approached eachother, the Thracian Skirmisher Mercenaries working for the Makedones moved out of the way and the two lines clashed:


The two lines fought for a while, but soon Pharoah's guard began to break through the Makedonian line. Seeing the units in need, the Thracians rushed in to help fill the forming hole in the line:


On the edge of the battle, Demetrios had managed to lead the cavalry around the enemy's flank and charged them in the rear, in a fashion Alexandros himself would have been proud of:


The Ptolemaic flank broke and began to flee. Demetrios gave chase and cut down the cowards, but was soon engadged by Ptolemaic reserves and was bogged down. In the middle of the Makedonian line, the Elite Ptolemaic troops began to make a hole through the line and many good Makedones were loosing their lives:


Just as the battle began to look good for the Ptolemaioi and the line looked breached, the Ptolemaic general lost his life at the hands of a Thracian. Seeing their general fall, all engadged Ptolemaic units broke and fled. Demetrios greeted the fleeing units on his way back to the battle line, cutting many of them down.

Seeing their first assualt fleeing, the Ptolemaioi began their second assault. This time moving there remaining units against the Makedonian right flank:



Demetrios quickly finished off the remaining Ptolemaic reserves:


The Ptolemaic line, engadged against the Makedones, were left with no reserves and were easily surrounded by Makedonian reserves and cavalry. These farmers quickly gave up the battle to turn and run:


The battle had been won by Demetrios, but at a great cost. Nearly a third of Demetrios' army lay dead on the field. The Ptolemaioi were crippled in the region, but the invasion of Syria now lacked the manpower and would have to wait. As the sun moved ever lower in the sky, Demetrios reformed his men and and began to count the dead:


To the south, the Ptolemaioi marched another army north from Egypt. To the north, a Ptolemaic army marched on Mazaka. But the true problem was just north of even that...

The known world in 235BC:

Next: Chapter 4: Syria (aka "Yes, I fight bridge battles" )
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That sure took a long time to update...

If your internet connection is as bad as mine, sorry this post didn't load correctly/quickly.

[Detlef]

It's worth waiting for this, another great chapter...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 4: Syria

In the winter of 235BC, the city of Mazaka lay beseiged by the forces of the Ptolemaioi. Due to the winter, Demetrios didn't risk marching his large army across the mountain passes from Kilikia. The next closest force that could assist was stationed in Ipsos, on the far side of Galatian territory and would never be able to arrive in time.

Seeing they were alone, Pantauchos Singios, son-in-law of Kalos, decided the garrison would fend off the Ptolemaioi with only the city garrison of Hellenic levies and local peasants:


The main army marched out one gate, while the peasants and Peltastai, led by Pantauchos went out the other. As the Hellenic levies tied down the Ptolemaic line, the peasants and skirmishers circled around their rear and pelted the enemy phalanx from behind with stone and javelin then charged. Completly surrounded and outnumbered, the Ptolemaic line lost their nerve and fled, with the townsfolk in pursuit:


As the day ended, the people of Mazaka rejoiced. The city had been saved, and with no small amount of help from the simple townsfolk.:


As the new year started, replacement troops from Pella arrived in Tarsos. Demetrios had sent for the reserves, stationed in Pella apon his last costly victory and they had hurried across Asia, along the way hiring some Thracians to replace Demetrios' lost Thracians.

With his newly replenished army assembled, Demetrios left his son-in-law, with some locals and reserves from Pamphylia, in charge of Kilikia. Demetrios then started his march eastward into Syria. In Syria were good Makedonian peoples who had followed Alexandros east, and who now were under the domination of a corrupted man who called himself "Pharoah".

Around this time, centered near the Island of Rhodos, an earthquake shook western Asia. Although relatively few were killed, the earthquake was certainly worth making note:


In Northern Asia, was the Kingdom of Pontos, a land created by oppertunists who were quick to steal parts of Alexander's empire apon his death. They had been allowed to live only because they had sworn loyalty to the Seleucid Basileus, but these betrayers couldn't even keep that promise. When the Ptolemaioi began defeating the Seleucids in Asia, Pontos quickly broke their alliance with the Seleucids and allied with the Ptolemaioi.

Over the years, the Kingdom of Pontos murdered and enslaved many good Greeks who live along the Pontic Sea. As time went by, the Kingdom of Pontos destroyed or occupied Greek colonies along the coast and began to expand into areas that were clearly not theirs. A couple years ealrier, the Pontics had invaded Galatia (ally of Makedonia) one mor time, this time taking the city and putting its citizens to the sword.

Soon, the Pontics made the ultimate betrayal. In the summer of 234BC, Pontic forces moved west and attacked the Makedonian city of Nikaia.


This was the last straw. Alkyoneus decided that it was time that the Kingdom of Pontos be wiped from the earth. Alkyoneus assembed his army, not yet fully trained, and marched east to wipe this nation of theives and murderers from the planet. But Alkyoneus couldn't reach Nikaia in time to save the city. Instead, Hephaistion Skionaios, governer of Ipsos marched his garrison north to confront the enemy. Hephaistion Skionaios was another son-in-law of Kalos and had as much experience as he had had when he failed to take Pergamon a decade earlier.

The Battle of Nikaia Bridge
As Hephaistion approached the Pontic forces, they fell back to their camp on the far side of a river. Though, as Hephaistion approached, the feared loosing control of the river crossing and charged back across. Hephaistion barely had enough time to reform his line in front of the bridge. The Pontic forces started pushing through, but the Makedonian line lacked the reinforcements of the medium infantry, which Hephaistion was forced to possition to the south to counter a crossing of Pontic forces just upstream:


With the seige lifted, the forces from Nikaia sallied forth and were not far behind Hephaistion. Seeing that the battle had already begun, the Nikaia pikemen ran to the battlefield and formed a line behind the exsisting one. Meanwhile the Nikaia slingers formed up and began firing at the Pontic horsemen still on the bridge:


Now reinforced, the flanks of the first line reformed and the center broke formation and fell back. As the Pontic horsemen gave chase, they quickly met a second wall of pikes:


To the south, the two Makedonia governors and a Pontic general spotted eachother. The Makedonian Hetairoi quickly lined up and changed the Pontic general:


After chasing off a group of archers, the Makedonian Petastai and Hoplitai charged the rear of the Pontic general, surrounding him:


The cowardice of the Pontic general soon became aparent, as he turn and fled, abandoning his army:


But it was of no use, the heavy Pontic cavalry were just too slow and were quickly caught by the Hetairoi, killing the cowardly general:


At the bridge, Pontic units began to panic and flee back across the bridge. As they flee, the received volleys of lead shot from the Makedonian slingers, stopping many where they stood:


Soon the Pontic general who had lead the forces across the bridge was alone with this guards. They were easily surrounded and perished:


The Makedonian forces quickly crossed the bridge and finished off the reforming Pontic forces. As they fled, the Makedonian forces gave chase. They gave no quarter and wiped out the remaining army:



That day, the Kingdom of Pontos suffered the first of many defeats, which would hopefully lead the end of their Kingdom:


In the years before he followed his father into war in Asia, Demetrios had a child, several children. When his first son was born, he named him Aristotelis. Aristotelis spent many years in Athenai, learning from the great teachers who lived there. When he reached the age of twenty, he gathered an army and wandered Makedonia, Illyria, and Thrace, killing brigands and putting down rebellions that had arisen in isolated regions of the Makedonian realm. One time, he even found himself far north, near the Greek colony and trading city of Olbia. During his travels, Aristotelis began assembling a mighty army of Thracian, Dacian, and Scythian soldiers.

When word reached Aristotelis that his father was invading Syria and would need assistance with the Ptolemaioi, Aristotelis started the long march south and into Asia. Along the way, Aristotelis separated from his army and hired local mercenaries to assist him in his ongoing attacks on brigands and rebels. During one of these battles, he noticed that he had begun to develop a grasp of greater tactical skills:


As winter approached, Aristotelis camped his army along the Pamphylia coast and awaited the Makedonian fleet. He was to sail to Kypros in spring and ensure it was in Makedonian hands:


As spring came, Demetrios found himself confronted with the last of the great Ptolemaioi armies stationed in Syria. The Ptolemaioi attacked Demetrios as he was about to cross a river north of Antiocheia:


Demetrios quickly formed up his men to defend the river crossing. Meanwhile Demetrios, the Thessalians, Thracians, and Thureophoroi made for a ford upstream to cross the river and attack the Ptolemaioi from the rear:


[Ok, this battle was basically frozen on my computer. Between the vast numbers on the field and the lag that accompanies a bridge crossing, my computer couldn't take it. Fraps said I was getting 1FPS, but it was much lower than that. I lowered all of the graphic details as low as they could go and tried to continue. Fraps still said 1FPS, but I believed it was actually near 1FPS now. Since all you would see is a jumble of sprites, I didn't take any pictures.]

The Ptolemaioi refused to cross the bridge completely and impale themselves on the Makedonian pikes. The Makedonians were unwilling to break formation and attack the enemy on the bridge. The battle was at a stalemate, but Demetrios managed in coming around the back of the Ptolemaioi and possitioned his men on the other landing. As the Thracians and Thureophoroi started throwing their javelin from one side and the slingers fired from the other, segments of the Ptolemaioi army began to break. The Pezhetairoi took advantage of this moment and moved in, resulting the the entire breaking of the Ptolemaic forces. As they fled across the bridge, they were greeted with the charging of Thessalian cavalry.

Demetrios mopped up the confused mass of paniced soldiers and moved his army completely across the river:


Demetrios quickly moved on and besieged the city of Antiocheia, a city which had once been the seat of government for his ally. Though, built in the eastern style, the city had a large population of Makedonian colonists who were tired of strict Ptolemaic rule.

The seige had barely begun, when a small army of Ptolemaic reinforcements arrived. They were a small force, but Sogenes Euphrantas Pyrgas decided that it would be enough for him and refused to wait for reinforcements:


Sogenes Euphrantas Pyrgas was a Ptolemaic hero of the Syrian wars, who had won many battles and gain much experience. It was said that his personal bodyguard were some of the best in the entire world. Today, his pride would be his undoing.

Demetrios lined up his men along the top of a gentle slope and awaited the enemy:


The Ptolemaic phalanxes rammed the Makedonian line and the battle began. The levies from Judaea were hesitant, though. At first, it seemed they would charge headlong into the Makedonian pikes, but instead pulled back and began to move and flank the Makedonian right:


The Thracians quickly moved ot the right flank to counter the Jewish levies, while Demetrios and the cavalry moved to the left flank.

Once again, Makedonian Pezhetairoi found themselves up against Egyptian elites:


Building apon his previous experiences, Demetrios managed to move around his own left flank and possition himself behind the Ptolemaic line. Once again, he managed to crash his heavy cavalry into the rear of the Ptolemaioi and make the run in terror:


As Demetrios possitioned himself for another charge into the rear of the Ptolemaic line, Sogenes Euphrantas Pyrgas suddenly appeared and charged into the Thessalian cavalry. Demetrios make a quick decision and decided to leave a segment of the Thessalian Cavalry in possition while the other half and his personal guard charged Sogenes Euphrantas Pyrgas as he was bogged down fighting:


Sogenes Euphrantas Pyrgas was quickly surrounded, but more than half of the men left to tie him down lost their lives. Their sacrifice was worth it, as the great Ptolemaic general fell dead on the field:


Seeing their general dead, both phalanx and levy broke order and ran. Demetrios quickly chased them down, killing and capturing them to ensure they did not return to Antiocheia to secure the city:



Demetrios immediately marched to Antiocheia, whose remaining garrison surrendered. Demetrios ordered no looting or killing was to be done by his army and they peacefully entered the city. Demetrios was greeted as a great liberator and a savior to the people of the city. Though the city had not been returned to the hands of the Seleucid Basileus, they were much happier to be out of the hands of the Ptolemaioi. The city was now added to the newly reformed Makedonian Empire, reborn from the ashes of Alexandros' Empire.

As celebrations began to slow down and after several months passed, Demtrios received word from his son:


To the north, Alkyoneus' quickly suplimented army approached the Pontic border. Alkyoneus finally had his own war and he as intent of wiping out the Kingdom of Pontos:


The known world in 233BC:

Next: Chapter 5: 233BC - 230BC (aka That name describes about how exciting it is.)

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Ahh, the good cavalry! I'm missing it in my current Sweboz campaign. Very nice again MAA.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Yeah, I'm winning all of my battles with the hammer and anvil tactic. It works well, but the same type of battle over and over doesn't make a very good story.

I managed to play tonight (hadn't had any free time near my computer that can run EB for nearly a week). I had a huge war with Pontos and it ended, basically with both of us losing...

[Subedei]

Very good AAR! One observation: Pavla has a freaky territory East of AS & South of Baktria....like an isle. Let us see how long that one will last?!?!

[CaesarAugustus]

Nice AAR, those I love those Uazali from the third chapter!

This is interesting MAA, keep updating. I always wished that you had made that ridiculously huge Roman Empire you had in 0.8 into an AAR, but the Maks are a good choice too.