Flight of Dragons - The Deeds of the Kings of the Sauromatae

[Aaldaemon]

I'm playing on medium, because I actually want to have FUN expanding... and I'm more interested in roleplaying my kings and relaxing(ya right my last battle had adrenaline pumping me to Valhalla) rather than having heart attacks every turn and being annoyed by the AI factions madness. My first game in 1.1 was a Ptolemaic game on VH and at some point it became pure masochism... I really do not like the way VH works in RTW, they need to rethink their AI/difficulty for Empire for sure, imo at the moment VH is not at all "a fun difficult challenge" it's just a way to make things harder and more boring. A game on medium with some house rules seems more fun to my weary brain.

Update coming soon... as the story of the Kings continues.

[Aaldaemon]

Part II: The Westward Flight



Men say that in the far west the Ocean drinks the Sun. This I do not believe and I shall see with my own eyes. So in the year of the Broken Serpent (271BCE) we marched from Gelonus, westwards towards the dying Sun. A host of warriors followed in my wake, strong men of the Dragon riding after their Kshahaya as is the lot of warriors. Follow me they did, and we reached the lands of the Neurije.

Messengers came from the men of that land to offer us land and water. We speared the weaklings and sent them to the War God. Never trust a silver tongued messenger, for behind that tongue is poison. Sweet words are the forerunners of deceit. Trust in your horse and your bow arm and trust in your enemy. A man who comes against you with iron and bow is an honest man. Those men who would kneel before you will as soon stab you in the back, therefore a wise king will slaughter them all and rid the world of their treachery.



So we marched to the greatest settlement of the silver tongued Neurije and there met their warriors in the truest of greetings: battle. The fools did not offer much of a greeting to be sure. How can one chase dragons encumbered by spears and shields? They found out that arrows are greater than spears, and death came to those who turned their backs to the dragon banners. When arrows ran out the Dragons flew, and we gave them a taste of bitter iron. They could not stand against the fiery breaths of our mounts and we ground them into dust under the hooves of horses. No man can stand his ground and win against the fury of the men of the Dragon.



After our great victory we took our time to rid the Neurije of any thoughts of defiance, and gave them a taste of true fear. Once their wills were broken the banners flew once more, this time northward to the lands of the Seliun.



There we came upon their walls of their great town of Seliun-Pilis and we sent the banners forward to provoke their anger. Only a coward hides behind walls, and the men of Seliun were no cowards. Seeing that they outnumbered us greatly, they summoned up their courage and came out to meet us fairly on the field of the War God. But war is never fair, and a coward may live where a brave man will die.



The banners scattered like the wind, and the fools of Seliun chased them as the death song of arrows withered them into nothingness. Again, we ran out of arrows, but the War God guided our lance points, charge after charge, and we broke the men of Pilis, and then the bloodlust came as the sun set.





The year was that of the Burning Sun Serpent (268BCE), and the lands of the Seliun burned too like the sun above. The Seliun paid the price of defiance in blood, and we made Seliun a desert and called it peace.

The Dragon Banners flew.

[Africanvs]

Nicely written. I like the war-like attitude of your leader, a true Khanish fellow. Looking great so far, I'll be following this one, especially since I've never played out a campaign with a horse archer based army.

[Aaldaemon]

The Lord of the Horizons thanks you for your kind words. He'll make sure to show all future Khans how it's done. (If he does not die of old age )
Great Dragon Kings should live at least to 80, you hear me RTW engine, you hear me???

Horse archer armies are the ultimate "eradicate an enemy army with minimal losses" type of armies so I love them, although I used to be an infantry lover, and using an infantry army is much more relaxing. The micromanagement of horse archery and repetitive charging can border on the insane, but hey I love my casualty figures. Plus the Sarmatian bodyguards are my new favorite EB unit... they're the tank/howitzer superdeathmachines of the ancient world... and they regenerate? Might try a full bodyguard army in the future.

Speaking of units... where is a good place to recruit some infantry for assaulting heavily defended cities in the future? I have to check if I get those Scordisci heavies... somehow I don't see myself taking great cities with only horse archers.

[Frodge]

Barstanae are awesome assaulters, but they die like flies to arrow fire so get lots of them.
That said i don't know if sauromatae can recruit them.

[Vorian]

Very nice AAR you have the right atmosphere. Usually AARs for these factions tend to be boring since most people no nothing about them.

[Aaldaemon]

Hmmm, if all else fails I think I can recruit classical hoplites. I'm pretty sure I can recruit Bosphoran heavy archers... so couple those with hoplites and my heavy horse archers and I'll have a truly invincible army.

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And thank you for the praise Vorian, I'm a big fan of atmosphere/attitude. Initially I was thinking to write this AAR as if it was the text on kingly stelae, but I'm obviously not sticking to that plan. This will tell the story of the Kings of the Sauromatae, through their perspective, and maybe that of others, if I get consumed by this enough.

[Aaldaemon]

Part III: The Shattered Goddess

A dragon can not rest for long. The fires of his heart must be fed with the blood of his enemies. We had made Seliun a desert, our fires consuming that land and feeding the joy of our hearts, but the dragon banners must always fly, so they did.

To the South lay the lands of the Bastarnae, the mixed blood dogs. It is said among my people that it is easier to grow wings and fly, than to find a man among the Bastarnae who knows the name of his own true father, so we went South to make sure the next generations of that land know their fathers, all good men of the Dragon.



The year was that of the Blood Reaver (265 BCE). Those men among the Bastarnae who would fight us died with arrows in their backs, or with spears through their bellies, those who chose the coward’s path died screaming as sacrifice to the Fire God. We saw them burn to the chorus of lamentations of their women and laughed, for soon those women would change the tune of their screams and breed us true men of the Dragon. Thus, the lands of the Bastarnae were purged of their tainted tribes, and the Dragons looked for new horizons.



To the South and to the East lay the city of the Yavanas called Olbia. Long ago the Yavanas came here from a distant polis they call Miletus to trade with the Scythians, and they made the land at the mouths of the river Hypanis their own. This I had learnt long ago when I was but a boy among the Yavanas, and I did not forget, for a man should always learn all that he can about his enemies. Know your enemy, look in his eyes and seek his heart. See the strings that make his heart beat, so you can cut them better. A king must know how to cut the strings of the hearts of nations, so his knowledge of his enemies must exceed that of all others. So a king must know all… know or die.

The Yavanas of Olbia believed in trade. A false goddess. The truest god of men’s hearts is War, and no other. The Scythians had made them grow fat on grain, fish and slaves, while the men of Olbia had paid them a pittance in goods made in their distant southern lands. This I set about to change. I would teach the men of Olbia the trade of blood, the blood of warriors as sacrifice for victory. I would cut the strings of their heart, end their trade, and bring them to their knees.

So I ended their trade, ravaged their land, then came to their walls and called them out to meet us in battle to exchange the goods of blood. The cowards hid behind their walls and gave no answer but the silence of their fear. They would not come. Our insults fell on death ears, and so when words failed it was the time for deeds.



My son Alouthagos brought as many Yavanas as he could find within sight of the walls and had them trampled under the hooves of his horses, one after another, but the cowards in Olbia did nothing but mutter curses, threatening us with the revenge of the gods.

The gods do not do the work of men, I told them. Come and fight us, if you believe in the help of your gods, I taunted them. But the men of Olbia had little faith, so they did not come.

We showed them then what cowardice buys those who would trade in it. We took the trampled bodies of their fellow Yavanas, cut them to pieces and fed them to the dogs.

See these dogs? I asked them. They will eat better than you, for we shall keep them fed with the bodies of Yavanas, while you will starve behind your walls, for we shall teach you that our dogs are better than your men, for they do not trade to become rich and fat, but they know their place as servants to the men of the Dragon.

So the dogs were well fed as the Yavanas starved. Months passed and the cowards of Olbia would trade for their life, they would offer us slaves and tribute and riches and wine, but all we did was feed them to the dogs. There was to be no more trade, only war. There would be no more Yavana lies, only the truths of steel. Trade proved to be a false goddess, drowned by the verity of war. The year was that of the Wind of Fire (259 BCE)and the city died a slow death, for the War God was with us then, and forever.

At the very end the Yavanas found their courage, and the remainder of their fighting men came out to meet us. Half starved weaklings envying the lot of dogs. We trampled them under the hooves of our horses then came upon their starving city like countless packs of dogs of war. We fed on our bloodlust as our hounds fed on their flesh.



We came to the most beloved temple of the men of Olbia, the temple of Demeter. There I had the statue of the goddess shattered, and the temple burned to the ground, while I showed the remaining Yavanas the impotence of their gods.

See? I asked them. The Dragon fears no gods of weaklings. The Yavanas that still possessed a scrap of courage cursed us in response, while those without offered tearful prayers for mercy.

I shall send you to your gods so that you can better deliver your curses and prayers to them, I said, as my men came upon them and rid the world of their whimpers.

Olbia knew the truths of war, and all that remained of the old city of the Yavanas were the pieces of the statue of the shattered goddess. I ordered those left where they fell, so that men can always see a god shattered by the men of the Dragon.