The Pyrrhic Dynasty : A Makedonian AAR

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 59 : Philip's War (Part III)

His father and elder brother fight the civil war in Anatolia and his younger brothers live in Makedonia, but Philippos, second-born son of Pyrrhos and heir to the throne, fights his own war in Iberia. The Iberian Confederacy started the war when they attempted to conquer the Hellenic colonies along the coast and with that any oppertunity for peace in Iberia was lost. The first acomplishment of the war was conquering the mineral rich southern regions. Then Philippos moved north to defeat the two lead tribes of the confederation, the Lusotanni and the Arevaci. The Lusotanni had been conquered quite easily while their army was in the north preparing to attack the Hellenic colonies. Since then, Philippos had moved his army forward to prepare to attack the Arevaci.

In order to weaken his enemy and in order to give some of the glory to his allies, Philippos had sent forward his coast Iberian allies first, to draw the Arevaci and Lusotanni refugee armies out. The coastal Iberians had only besieged their capital city of Numatia for a few months when the counter attack comes:


The Makedonia-friendly coastal Iberians line up just outside of a wooded area on a hillside near the road leading to Numatia. In the center are the swordsmen, with the spearmen on the flanks, and the slingers of the Baleric islands behind the line:


The wait is short and soon the enemy army is near, which the Baleric slinger open fire on:


While the enemy infantry attacks the center of the line, the Iberian cavalry circles around the left flank and charge in:


While additional Arevaci cavalry waves hit the flank, the entire flank of spearmen rush in to assist:


The huge number of spearmen make quick work of the cavalry and cut them down, causing the them to flee:


Meanwhile, in the center the enemy infantry begin fleeing as well:


The coastal Iberians chase their enemy into to the forest for some distance but soon stop and fall back. The first enemy army starts to regroup and is reinforced by the forces from the city itself. The coastal Iberians collect themselves and return to formation. They wait, but it is only a short time before the enemy army is upon them once again:


As before, the enemy infantry hits the center of the line and the two side begin to fight:


The enemy is disadvantages this time, however, as they now lack any cavalry. Instead of cavalry, the Arevaci army circles spearmen around the right flank and attacks. This move is quickly countered by the coastal spearmen and the flanking is out flanked:


The Arevaci send more forces to the battle on the flank but fail to regain the advantage. This move, however, weakens the center of the Arevaci line and the infantry in the middle gives and begins to flee back to Numatia. While half the forces from the coastal Iberians' center and left flank chase their fleeing foe, the rest charge in at the rear of the fight on the right flank:


Soon the whole of the Arevaci force is broken and fleeing back to their capital:


When news reaches Philippos that the coastal Iberians have won a crushing victory, he is surprised. Not only did the coastal Iberians win the battle, they manage to crush two huge armies of the Iberian Confederacy, taking only a few losses themselves:


Philippos then moves his Thorakitai army into Arevaci territory and plans his next move. As the war in Iberian hits another high point, the civil war in Anatolia continues. On the isle of Lesbos, the citizen expel the Demetrid garrison, declare themselves loyal to Pyrrhos, and assemble a small army of Thorakitai. This action allows the army of Sotades, stationed in Pergamon, to move forward and besiege the city of Sardis, capital to the Anatolia Satrapy:


Back in Iberia, Philippos decides to change his plans. Rather than take the city of Numatia with his own army, Philippos instead moves to command the coastal Iberians, personally, in an attack on the city of Numantia. While his army of Thorakitai guard against the possiblity of an enemy army outflanking the attack from the rear, the coastal Iberians build seige equiptment then attack:


With a half dozen seige towers, Philippos plans to take the city walls by force:


The battle starts off on a low mark, however, as half the towers are destroyed before they even reach the walls:


Although, near the city's western gate the towers reach the walls and the coastal Iberian spearmen quickly surround the Arevaci forces defending the wall:


While the spearmen kill the men guarding the wall and take control of the gateway, Philippos and the rest of the army moves forward:


Then with the walls taken, the coastal Iberians chase the last defenders of the walls away with a rain of javelin:


Philippos then splits his men into three groups. The first group are the spearmen who took the walls, who head straight to the city center. Although the plan is for them to rest before scalling the hilll, they are countered by Arevaci levy spearmen:


Even though they are tired, this group quickly pushes back the Arevaci counterattack:


The second group consists of spearmen whose towers were destroyed before it reached the walls. These men circle around the edge of the city to the south. They too meet an Arevaci counterattack:


Since some of the second group circled around the outside of the city and came in the southern gate, they manage to hit their enemy in a pincer attack, surround them, and wipe them out:


The third and final group is the coastal Iberian swordsmen who circle around the northern edge of the city. This group manages to get half-way up the city's center hill before they around countered:


All the fighting quickly ends and the last of the Arevaci forces fall back to the center of the city. There, they are surrounded and outnumbered, but the Arevaci refuse to accept surrender. Philippos' forces of allied Iberians charge in at the city center from all sides:


The coastal Iberians slowly move forward and surround their enemy, who fights to the very last man:


When the last man falls, he does not fall alone. Not only does he fall, but the city falls. With the city falls the Arevaci tribe. With the fall of the tribe, the lands they ruled fall into the care of the Arche Makedonia:



With the fall of the Arevaci the Iberian Confederacy itself almost falls apart and fades away. In-fighting within the remaining tribes and rulers begin. Although the territories and people of the tribes of Lusotanni and Arevaci fall, many of their soldiers and nobility retreat into the lands of the northern tribes. Although there is chaos, the leadership of the Iberian Confederacy falls to the defacto king of the Arevaci in exile, the young king Atu.

Meanwhile, Philippos takes the in-fighting of the Iberian Confederacy as a chance to ensure strong control over all of his Iberian conquests. While government controls is established in the south, with plans for settlement [Type2], the lands of the Lusotanni and Arevaci remain in military control [Type3]. With this, Philippos also plans to set up an easily defendable border and finally bring an end to his war in Iberia.

The known world in the autumn of 172BC:

Next: Chapter 60 : Around the Known World

[General Appo]

Kill that damn Atu, never liked guys with that name.
I can´t believe the Rhodioi have not seen the stupidity of supporting the Demetrids, usually they are such clever fellows.

[Maion Maroneios]

Maybe if Karia is conquered, then the Rhodioi may see reason?

[Reverend Joe]

Doin' good, MAA.

Now that Iberia is all but subdued, what's your economic situation like? Is the money rolling in, or are you still stretched thin?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Rhodos seems to be quite an important city allied to the Demetrids. They built a sizable army and are curning out ships there. I'm role-playing that Rhodos is allied with the Spartans.

When the civil war first started I quickly fell into debt, but after I disbanded most of my unused armies and excess border guards I managed to climb out of debt and break even. But I had to stop all building construction. With the cost of retraining armies, rebuilding captured towns, and building a couple economic structures in key locations, I break even about this point in the game. At this point, money is still a problem and I sometimes have to take out loans for critical things ('take out loan' = "add_money 40000", buy what I need, "add_money -40000").

[Tyrfingr]

Rhodos seems to be quite an important city allied to the Demetrids. They built a sizable army and are curning out ships there. I'm role-playing that Rhodos is allied with the Spartans.

When the civil war first started I quickly fell into debt, but after I disbanded most of my unused armies and excess border guards I managed to climb out of debt and break even. But I had to stop all building construction. With the cost of retraining armies, rebuilding captured towns, and building a couple economic structures in key locations, I break even about this point in the game. At this point, money is still a problem and I sometimes have to take out loans for critical things ('take out loan' = "add_money 40000", buy what I need, "add_money -40000").

For even funnier role-playing, have Pyrrhos taking out loans from merchants and nobels, then having to repay them with a huge interest. His debt might be a crucial factor in the civil war.

[Chirurgeon]

Kill that damn Atu, never liked guys with that name.
I can´t believe the Rhodioi have not seen the stupidity of supporting the Demetrids, usually they are such clever fellows.

Well I am hurt...that is my current leaders name Just kidding...damn I wish those Iberians would put together a good force...damn milites

[Olaf The Great]

Well I am hurt...that is my current leaders name Just kidding...damn I wish those Iberians would put together a good force...damn milites

I take offense to that, Iberi Milities are the only people MAN enough to wear chicken head-dresses, I would only respect them more if they wore the dreaded ORLY? hat

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

With the mines of Makedonia, Illyria, and now Iberia, I'm able to repay my debt every turn and any loans are quickly payed off. When I "take out a loan", I'm just not able to do anything the following turn.

"The Iberian Confederacy" had good MICs in Sucum-Murgi and Oxtraca, and mediocre MICs in Numantia. Since they are churning out one unit a turn from each settlement, it unfortunately results in crappy units in most of their armies. I wrote a little script and spawned L4MICs (both types) in both of their Ireland towns though, to prevent the same spamming of little units once they are kicked from the mainland.

[Chirurgeon]

With the mines of Makedonia, Illyria, and now Iberia, I'm able to repay my debt every turn and any loans are quickly payed off. When I "take out a loan", I'm just not able to do anything the following turn.

"The Iberian Confederacy" had good MICs in Sucum-Murgi and Oxtraca, and mediocre MICs in Numantia. Since they are churning out one unit a turn from each settlement, it unfortunately results in crappy units in most of their armies. I wrote a little script and spawned L4MICs (both types) in both of their Ireland towns though, to prevent the same spamming of little units once they are kicked from the mainland.

so happy that they have a new homeland...any plans for Gaul after the civil war?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I had planned to take another 'layer' of territories in Gaul, but I was pleasantly surprised that they haven't betrayed my alliances after the Romani War ended. Since the Aedui seem to be winning, I was thinking of transplanting the Arverni somewhere else when they die. Maybe make the Boii or the Lugians, or maybe make them a rebel Galatia...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 60 : Around the Known World

While a great civil war wages within the Arche Makedonia, the rest of the world does not simply sit back and await the outcome. While the Arche Makedonia tears itself apart, the nations, empires, and tribes across the world continue their lives. Very few are even interested in the internal goings-on of the Arche Makedonia.

In the far off islands of Britannia, a loose alliance of tribes had managed to unite the main island. Although they worked together, the tribes of the island are far from a unified nation. Many places, especially in the north, the alliance exists in name only. Attempts to unify all of the islands had so far failed. The much more unified Goidilics nearby had so far resisted. Although no war had begun yet, it seems all but inevitable:


Between there and the western Arche Makedonia, in the lands of Gallia, the war amongst the tribes had once again resumed. When the Romani invaded the region, it tore the place apart physically but unified the people politically against the invaders. After Pyrrhos' elder brother, Neikolaos, defeated the Romani in Gaul and restored the lands to their previous owners, peace seemed in sight. For a long time there was an uneasy peace between the Confederation, headed by the Aedui tribe, and the strongest apposing tribes, the Arverni and her allies. The invasion by the Iberian Confederation dealt even more damage to the Gallic Confederation and nearly tore it apart. Somehow, in the wake of their near destruction, the Gallic Confederation pushed back the Iberian Confederation and then turned on their longtime enemy, the Arverni tribe. Even though they should have been in a weakened state, they succeeded and devided the territories of their enemy and continue their old war:


On the opposite side of the western Arche Makedonia, the peoples of Numidia and Mauretania remain unified. They had once been client kingdoms of the city of Kart-Hadast and when the city fell they remained allied with eachother. Their unification seemed odd at first, but it turned out that nobles of the city of Kart-Hadast retained military control of the regions and continued the foreign rule. By manipulated the locals, this minority managed to start a war with the Arche Makedonia. Although the entire exiled army and majority of nobles from Kart-Hadast had been killed in battle, the Numidians and Mauretanians continue to push back against the Arche Makedonia:


In Arabia, poor management of conquered territory and ill treatment of locals had resulted in a war between the Demetrids and the Kingdom of Sab'yn. Throughout the early rise of the Antigonids, the Kingdom of Sab'yn had been quiet. Though, through some unknown turn of events, they managed to become the top power in southern Arabia. Over the next century they spread and took control of all of Arabia, with trade outposts in Aithiopia. They had attempted to expand northward, but armies of the unified Arche Makedonia had always stopped them. Now, they move against the splintered Arche, in Babylonia:


...as well as once again attempting to push against the Hellenic colonies in southern Syria, now ill defended by Demetrid forces:


The Nubians, as well, sought to profit from the fracture. For years the Kingdom of Meroe had been a minor kingdom on the edge of Ptolemaic Aigyptos. However, when the Ptolemaioi were finally defeated, a distant branch of the Ptolemaic family had managed to escape into exile in Nubia. When a failed attempt to conquer Makedonike holdings in northern Nubia ended up costing the lives of both the king and heir to the throne of Meroe, the oppertunistic young Ptolemai saw his chance. With no clear replacement to their king, Ptolemai managed to convince the people to make him king. He thus became Ptolemai VII and declared himself Pharoah of all the Neilos. Years later, seeking to make good on that claim, he sends men north to take advantage of the devided Arche Makedonia, though his armies are hesitant to atttack:


In the far east, the Arche Seleukeia is once again on the rise. The dynasty of Seleukos, only a generation earlier, had been all but defeated. The Median rebels had taken territories in the west and the Gandharan Indians had pushed all the way to the wall of Persepolis. Then Aristotelis attacked the Arche Seleukeia's key Babylonian holdings. It looked as though the Seleukid line would disappear from this world and fade away, but it was no so. When the Makedonike civil war started, the threat to the west vanished. Many Makedonike lands were given to the Median Empire and when an alliance between Media and the Arche Seleukeia was achieved, the Seleukids could consentrate on one front. Pushing back in the east, the armies of the Arche Seleukeia had won victory after victory over Gandhara and are beginning to push them all the way back into India:


Despite all of the achievements of the surrounding world, and even though Pyrrhos had crushed the Demetrids every time they met in combat, the Demetrids manage to emerge as the most advanced people of the known world:


In a time of defeat, one victory over Pyrrhos was not directly that of the Demetrids. In Hellas, the Spartans had chosen to stand against Pyrrhos. After almost five years of defiance, they had slowly managed to achieve the support in the rest of the Peloponnesos and make alliances with the major cities there. Although the Spartans had been nothing to worry about, the alliance of a dozen Hellenic cities finally started to worry Pyrrhos:


The first-born son of Pyrrhos, Sotades, had been put in charge of Pyrrhos' old army and tasked with taking Ionia and Lydia, however it did not appeal to Sotades. Sotades believed his talent lay in governing large cities and grew tired of combat:


It is not much of an issue, however, as Sardis soon surrender. All of central Anatolia, west of Galatia, falls to Pyrrhos and his son without a fight, while at the same time southern Kappadokia surrenders to the combined force of Galatians and Illyrians. This is once again a great blow to the Demetrids, costing them many resource rich provinces.

In the rioting against the Demetrids in Sardis, the great Temple of Artemis was damaged. Many saw this as a sign, though every mystic translated the meaning differently. A mystical omen of the future is no worry to Pyrrhos and his family, the main concern is the loss of prestige as the people find out that Makedonia lacks the money to repair the damage and restore the temple:


Finally arriving in Pontos, Herodes, son of Herakleon, grandson of Euboulides, great-grandson of Antigonos Gonatas, moves his army forward for combat. Herodes manages to push through Pontos to attack Demetrid-controlled northern Kappadokia with his Bosphorian army, but he does not get there soon enough. As the autumn draws to a close, he prepares to winter his army within friendly territory:


The same autum, an earthquake hits Italia. It is small and few are injured, and fortunately the Romaioi legion is unharmed, as they are already far from their homes, sailing eastward:


As the people of Ippone prepare to settle in for their mild winter, the Numidian-Mauretanian forces attack once again, lead by Kart-Hadast nobles:


The only actual combat within the Arche Makedonia, during this time, occures in a distant region without much importance. The steppe horsemen, allies of Lysippos, had been tasked with defending the Armenian holdings from the Demetrids. When the Demetrids started to reinforce the Hayasdan region, the horsemen moved south in an attempt to draw the infantry heavy army into a skirmish. After a short while, they succeed when a reinforcement army from Babylonia arrives to confront them near Armavir:


The steppe cavalry army is quite fortunate when the reinforcements from the city fail to arrive on time:


Exploiting their mobility and long range, the cavalry mounted archers circle all around the Demetrid army and fire at them from all sides:


The Demetrid army takes heavy casualties and the battle begins to look good for the side of Pyrrhos. Then, the Demetrid general leads his personal kataphraktoi in a charge. As the steppe horse archers fire upon them, they do no harm and are forced to fall back:


Continuing to fall back, the steppe cavalry pull the enemy kataphraktoi into a trap and surround them. They then move in with a great charge:


Surrounded and with the lost the advantage of the mass of their charges, the kataphraktoi are slowly wiped out, though at great cost to the steppe cavalry. Eventually the enemy general is surrounded and killed:


Just as the enemy general falls dead, the reinforcements from the city finally arrive. While firing the last of their arrows, the steppe cavalry turn and flee back northward. Due to the fact the Demetrids take the field, a great number of Demetrid wounded are recovered and manage to recouperate:

The known world in 171BC:

Next: Chapter 61 : Nubians and Romans

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Very good update! In one image you forgot to colour the real Bartix in Bartix-blue.

[General Appo]

Very good. I noticed you´ve left Athenai and Chalkis unguarded. Do you intend to let the Spartans and their allies take them, to unite all of Hellas against Pyrrhos? Surely the wise philosophers of Athenai must see the foolishness in joining the losing side, for that is indeed what the Demetrids are.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks.

Oops, didn't notice that red in Baktria. Oh well...

I left Korinth, Athens, Chalkis, and Thermon (I believe that picture was taken just after an army engaged the Spartans, lost, and retreated back to Thermon [in an attempt to get them mad and moving]) unguarded in an attempt to get the Spartans to get agressive and perhaps unite Hellas. Since I'm roleplaying that Hellas is allied with the Demetrids and not necessarily part of their empire, it would kind of make since for them to come together in an attempt to regain autonomy. In the end, however, things turn out bad for them, especially for the Athenians.

[Aaldaemon]

Thanks.

Oops, didn't notice that red in Baktria. Oh well...

I left Korinth, Athens, Chalkis, and Thermon (I believe that picture was taken just after an army engaged the Spartans, lost, and retreated back to Thermon [in an attempt to get them mad and moving]) unguarded in an attempt to get the Spartans to get agressive and perhaps unite Hellas. Since I'm roleplaying that Hellas is allied with the Demetrids and not necessarily part of their empire, it would kind of make since for them to come together in an attempt to regain autonomy. In the end, however, things turn out bad for them, especially for the Athenians.

Nice plotting there to be sure... This gives me an idea, I'm going to use.

Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to repair the Artemision? I've noticed that at times wonder repairs are quite mindblowing.

[Maion Maroneios]

Yep, it had occured to me as well when sabotaging a Seleukid settlement with my assasin. You see, those chaps had made me real angry and I destroyed part of the Mausoleon in Halikarnassos, which cost me near 10.000 mnai to fix upon taking the city for myself...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Yeah, the repairs were something like 15,000. I could afford it, but I wouldn't be able to recruit any units or build any buildings that turn.

[Chirurgeon]

Wow that last fight was brutal. Great update!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks, Chirurgeon.

---

I was doing some more modding to the game, this time trying to add in the v1.0 general skins that I just missed out on in this internal version. I managed to do this:



Since the v0.8x model and the v1.0 model are different, they are missing their swords and parts of their crests. I would just save over the model, but the weird thing is that the v0.8x models don't seem to exist anywhere to save over...

I guess I'll just play with guys who have odd crests and no weapon.

[General Appo]

Lovely. Though that Baktrian Generals shield just look wierder and wierder every time I look at it, and I´ve played Baktria extensively.
From this angle it looks like one girl is doing... ya know, fellatio while being spanked while another girl is about to him in the back with a... whip?
Whoever designed that shield has some seriously wierd sexual fantasies, that he is handling in the wrong way.

[Lysimachos]

Whoever designed that shield has some seriously wierd sexual fantasies, that he is handling in the wrong way.

Maybe there is absolutely nothing wrong with the shield and you are the one with seriously weird sexual fantasies

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

It is actually a direct copy of an actual picture (coin or something). It really isn't sexual, and when you look at the actual picture, that is easy to tell.

[General Appo]

Okay... but not from where I am standing. I mean, just look at that screenshot. Oh well, I guess it´s just the angle or something.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

You are a ruthless person MAA to let your precious Generals ride into battle without even a pity little sword. But now they can distract their foes with their shiny new shields... Is that a blow job depicted on the Bartix/Demetrid shield?

[General Appo]

YES! Told you, I´m not the only one!

[Gaivs]

[Aaldaemon]

By the Dragon's tail, I guess I need to look at shields more closely from now on. I guess if Hugh Hefner were an ancient general, that would be his preferred shield design.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Ok it's not but I love it nevertheless. Naked girls kneeling in front of you and swinging those branches while you put your foot on the decapitated head of your worst enemy... always been one of my favourite fantasies!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

...please discontinue this conversation...