What would you do with this campaign??

[konny]

1. Konny -- what do you recommend for the composition of my consular army tasked with advancing on Augila and Kyrene? Half Roman, half auxilia?

I use a base army of:

1x Accensi
1x Velites
2x Hastati
2x Principes
1x Triarii
1x Equites

I call this a Legion even though it represents in fact 2 Legions (if you play with a 1:10 ratio, this is roughly 10,000 men). Two of it would make a full consular army with slots left for Extraordinarii and a second FM.

The problem is that you don't get any auxilia "of the line" in Africa. You can replace your skirmishers with Numidians (even though Velites are very strong) and use Numdian cavalry instead of Italian - what requires a lot of micromanagemt because of the right use of light mobile forces. So any serious fighting has to be done by troops you ship over from Italy.

The situation is much better in Greece. There you have Hoplites, Pletastai (use them as light flankers, not as skirmishers), cavalry and missle units - even though I would consider to bring over Numidians as skirmishers. When they attack, the Maks will certainly use the classical Hoplites as backbone of their army, not the Phalanx. In this case you'll be able to meet them on an equal footing without the need to leave a permanent Roman garrison there. Nevertheless Polybian Romans usualy do beat Hoplites 1vs1.

In Spain you have some very fine auxilia units, like the Iberian lights, Northern skirmishers and Asturian axemen. I would ship some Numidian archers and cavalry there to fill the last gaps in these ranks. I would leave one Legion (see above) there, just in case.

Leaves Gallia Cilsalpina: Romans, they will beat the Celts anytime and anywhere, only have to fear Gaesatae. I would spice up this army with some Sardinian archers: they create a bloodbath among Gaeroas, Lugoae and the like half-naked guys without the need of special protection against cavalry.

[Xurr]

I'd do the following

Take out these in the following order

1) Arverni
2) Aedui
3) Sweboz

Consolidate your armies after that campaign. Move a couple stacks down to the north African border with the Ptolemaics (these are for later). Take the rest of your troops and take out Makedonia. Once you finish off Mak start moving the North African troops in on Alexandria. This way you have a nice 2 pronged attack on the Ptolemaics and essentially just 1 front to worry about.

Note you probably wont have to worry much about the Getai, I find they tend to spend most of their time going north.

[Tellos Athenaios]

I'd be content taking Mediolanium from the Arverni -- you will want easily defended borders; and if these are not too far from your core military centers all the better.

I'd also take Krete which can act as a fine base for supporting your war effort against the Ptolemaioi (you can use it to mount naval invasions; or just for refitting your navies...). Also: you will likely benefit from access to Cretan archers...

I would focus on the Mikra Asia frontier: leaving the Makedonians in place as an allied buffer state, drawing the Ptolemaioi military towards them rather than you. It's not about being nice to the Maks: it's about being seriously destructive to the Ptolemaians, and possibly have the Maks be eliminated for you by Ptolemaioi. This should make it easier to hold on to North Africa, as well as succesfully raid the Nile valley & Syria later on.

[Tarkus]

I use a base army of:

1x Accensi
1x Velites
2x Hastati
2x Principes
1x Triarii
1x Equites

I call this a Legion even though it represents in fact 2 Legions (if you play with a 1:10 ratio, this is roughly 10,000 men). Two of it would make a full consular army with slots left for Extraordinarii and a second FM.

The problem is that you don't get any auxilia "of the line" in Africa. You can replace your skirmishers with Numidians (even though Velites are very strong) and use Numdian cavalry instead of Italian - what requires a lot of micromanagemt because of the right use of light mobile forces. So any serious fighting has to be done by troops you ship over from Italy.

So I take it that you recommend I put two full legions of native Romans near Lepki and hold the southeastern border? I like that idea...

The situation is much better in Greece. There you have Hoplites, Pletastai (use them as light flankers, not as skirmishers), cavalry and missle units - even though I would consider to bring over Numidians as skirmishers. When they attack, the Maks will certainly use the classical Hoplites as backbone of their army, not the Phalanx. In this case you'll be able to meet them on an equal footing without the need to leave a permanent Roman garrison there. Nevertheless Polybian Romans usualy do beat Hoplites 1vs1.

Very true indeed, Konny. I think I will put together a full army (stack) of Greek units, with allied Numidian skirmishers, and ship them via Athens to, maybe, Syria for some good old-fashioned Hellraising.

In Spain you have some very fine auxilia units, like the Iberian lights, Northern skirmishers and Asturian axemen. I would ship some Numidian archers and cavalry there to fill the last gaps in these ranks. I would leave one Legion (see above) there, just in case.

Leaves Gallia Cilsalpina: Romans, they will beat the Celts anytime and anywhere, only have to fear Gaesatae. I would spice up this army with some Sardinian archers: they create a bloodbath among Gaeroas, Lugoae and the like half-naked guys without the need of special protection against cavalry.

Sounds good. I have an urge to expand to Tolose and Burdigala in addition to Mediolanum, after which time I will hunker down on my western frontier and look eastward.

Tellos Athenaios:
Interesting idea re: Maks vs. Ptolemaioi. How would you propose that I actually do that? I would envision landing a large Roman force near the Mak-Ptolemaic border and stirring up the Yellow hive...but how would I get the two to actively engage?

I also like your idea of descending on Krete...great staging area for eastward raiding, etc...

Thanks again to everybody for your advice. I'll keep you posted on my progress...this is sounding like the beginnings of a bare-bones AAR!

[Tellos Athenaios]

The AI is usually very agressive to enemy armies that dare cross borders; going as far as to pursue them into enemy territory. Therefore if you have your diversive stacks conventiently located within marching distance of Makedonian territory you should be able to lure Ptolemaic forces into Makedonian territory.

With luck the Makedonians will respond to the Ptolemaioi pursuers likewise... In any case it should increase the amount of battles per turn between Makedonian and Ptolemaic forces; thereby whittling both powers down a bit further. And it's all about buying tine and diverting Ptolemaioi eyes...

[Tarkus]

The AI is usually very agressive to enemy armies that dare cross borders; going as far as to pursue them into enemy territory. Therefore if you have your diversive stacks conventiently located within marching distance of Makedonian territory you should be able to lure Ptolemaic forces into Makedonian territory.

With luck the Makedonians will respond to the Ptolemaioi pursuers likewise... In any case it should increase the amount of battles per turn between Makedonian and Ptolemaic forces; thereby whittling both powers down a bit further. And it's all about buying tine and diverting Ptolemaioi eyes...

Got it...I've seen this myself in other regions so I understand what you're saying.

Another (perhaps silly) question: Do I have to negotiate safe passage of my armies through allied Makedonian territory? Or does the alliance take care of that implicitly?

[Tellos Athenaios]

Another (perhaps silly) question: Do I have to negotiate safe passage of my armies through allied Makedonian territory? Or does the alliance take care of that implicitly?

That will be difficult (AI is usually rather conservative about sharing things which may risk its military security) but would of course be best ...

[Flying Pig]

I had a similar situation in my campaign, and can only reccomend one action: Forward, the light brigade! I samshed citizen armies into Egypt and the powerful syracusian forces I had raised from and APR government into Judea, and drove them to their deaths with local auxilia then marian troops.

[Ibrahim]

The AI is usually very agressive to enemy armies that dare cross borders; going as far as to pursue them into enemy territory. Therefore if you have your diversive stacks conventiently located within marching distance of Makedonian territory you should be able to lure Ptolemaic forces into Makedonian territory.

With luck the Makedonians will respond to the Ptolemaioi pursuers likewise... In any case it should increase the amount of battles per turn between Makedonian and Ptolemaic forces; thereby whittling both powers down a bit further. And it's all about buying tine and diverting Ptolemaioi eyes...

I a not alone (hugs teddy bear)

[delra]

If I was mean, I'd write "restart on VH/M". :-)

But seriously:

I'd use Forced Diplomacy to rearrange the map a bit. I'd give Iraq and Syria back to AS. Everything east of Persia, India included, I'd split between Baktria and Parthia. It's a shame Saka got destroyed...

Hayasdan and Parthia should be removed from the steppes. Their cities there preferably given back to Sauromatae.

Greeks are fine where they are now. Go conquer (or buy) Byzantion, seal the strait with a fleet and forget they exist. Go conquer the rest of Africa (bordering Eleutheroi is lame and then go for Aedui and Arverni. Have fun.

[Tarkus]

If I was mean, I'd write "restart on VH/M". :-)

I actually screwed up in that first post...I meant H/M, not M/H...thanks for reminding me of that!

I'd use Forced Diplomacy to rearrange the map a bit. I'd give Iraq and Syria back to AS. Everything east of Persia, India included, I'd split between Baktria and Parthia. It's a shame Saka got destroyed...

Hayasdan and Parthia should be removed from the steppes. Their cities there preferably given back to Sauromatae.

Greeks are fine where they are now. Go conquer (or buy) Byzantion, seal the strait with a fleet and forget they exist. Go conquer the rest of Africa (bordering Eleutheroi is lame and then go for Aedui and Arverni. Have fun.

Interesting ideas...I'm getting lots of options from all of you!

That will be difficult (AI is usually rather conservative about sharing things which may risk its military security) but would of course be best ...

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I've thought about giving Pella back to Makedonia as a gesture of good faith -- how can I call them allies if I occupy their historic capital?! I tried giving it back to them essentially for free, but the vanilla (and somewhat annoying) diplomacy failed. In this spirit, what about trading military access (and perhaps some cash) for their capital? Shrewd or crazy?