The History of an Empire - Qarthadastim AAR

[phoenixemperor]

Great AAR. Even inspired me to play as Qarthadast.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Chapter III: Time of Conquests

Part II: Iberian Wars (261-251)


Old Greek temple near Emporion.

In the beginning of 261 Hasdrubal started another military campaign in Iberia. His first target was a small rebel force near Mastia. Thanks to his superior army he defeated those rebels quite easily. Then he headed north against Emporion. The ruler of Lacetania, Epandros, had three years ago sided with the Romani and attacked couple of Qarthadastim cargo ships. Now Hasdrubal saw an opportunity and attacked him. He besieged Emporion in the Spring of 260 and conquered the town in Autumn. Epandros survived the battle and was hanged by Hasdrubal three days after the town fell to his forces.

In the same time in Kart-Hadast the Senate decided that the rest of Iberia should stay under the local government. That meant that Client Kingdoms had to be established there. First Hasdrubal was against this decision but when he got the power to name those new 'Kings' he was more then happy with the Senates decision.

In Winter of 260 Hasdrubal west to Volcallra to recruit some mercenaries into his army. This action almost caused a war between Romani and Qarthadastim again. Caius Aurelius Cotta, the same Romani general who escaped from Capua just before Briareus Gisgo besieged it, were in command of an army that was besieging Tolosa. There were couple of skirmishers between Hasdrubal's and Cotta's forces but luckily a new war with the Romani did not start. In Spring of 259 Hasdrubal left with his new troops back to Emporion.

After some preparations Hasdrubal headed towards Numantia in Summer of 259. The ruler of Celtiberia was Kalamus. He was responsible for many attacks against villages in Edetania. Lot of people had died in those attacks. Some of the locals joined Hasdrubal and in Winter of 259 he finally besieged the town. He waited until the Autumn of next year before he attacked. Being confined to bed he was not able to lead his army until the end of Autumn when his forces finally attacked Numantia. Kalamus died in battle and Hasdrubal ordered to leave his body to the wild animals.
Soon a new King was named by Hasdrubal. His name was Germelqart and he had been one of those Celtiberians who had joined him recently.

Iberian Wars 261-251

In Spring of 257 Hasdrubal attacked Vellika. The town was quite defenceless since it did not had any walls around it. Hasdrubal attacked only week later. It was a surprisingly hard fight. Hasdrubal had left most of his army to Numantia and was sure that Vellika would fall quickly but Cantabrian King Laro held took a lot of Hasdrubals warriors with him. Laro was one of the last ones to die. The losses made Hasdrubal angry and he ordered most of the people to be enslaved. A new King was appointed but he was killed in just after Hasdrubal left. Another King was appointed and this one became famous some years later. New Kings name was Hamalcar and he had served Hasdrubal for more than 5 years as his bodyguard.

The next year Hasdrubal attacked Pallantia and conquered it without many casualties. In Autumn he returned to Emporion to retrain his forces and to recruit new soldiers. For some time things cooled down in Iberia.

The only place where something was happening was Vellika and Cantabria. People from the countryside took their weapons and started to fight against King Hamalcar's forces. Destruction of local shrine did not help him either. In Autumn 255 he was forced to send some of his troops to Pallantia to garrison that town. This gave the locals enough confidence to start ambushes and surprise attacks against his troops. Finally in Summer of 253 the people from around Vellika attacked the town and King Hamalcar was forced to retreat towards Pallantia. But he was not safe there. Sine the rulers in Pallantia and Numantia did not want to risk with their soldiers lives he was left without any supporting troops. In late summer when Hamalcar was camped near a bridge between Cantabria and Asturia he was attacked by a man called Abulo. He had become the leader of the rebel forces. Outnumbering Hamalcar and his bodyguards he ordered his men to attack.

Hamalcar just before the Battle of the Bridge in 253


Hamalcar rallying his men during the battle

The battle was bloody. They hold against Scutarii and Caetrati units but when the Abulo attacked with his cavalry the battle seemed lost. There were just handful of men left when suddenly one of his men killed Abulo. After that the faith of the battle was decided. Hamalcar won and with that victory he became known throughout the Empire. After getting help from the Asturi he besieged Vellika in Autumn and in spring of 252 he attacked Vellika with his men. The battle was quick and most of the defenders gave up pretty fast. After that many books were written about him.

King Hamalcar attacking Vellika

In the same time Hasdrubal went south to Mastia and then to Turdetania. In Autumn of 254 some Massalians and Celto-Hellenes joined his forces. They hoped that Hasdrubal can convince the Senate to start a new war against Romani and liberate Massalia from the harsh rule of the Romans.In spring of 253 Hasdrubal killed the rebels north of Gader. They were led by an old Qarthadastim officer named Ahiram Baecula. Since Hasdrubal knew the man he took his rebellion as a personal insult. After the victory he ordered to crucify all the survivors on a road leading east from Gader. In summer he started the last large military campaign in Iberia. He headed towards Tyde. In late Summer of 252 Hasdrubal finally besieged Tyde. He decided to wait since the Winter of 252 was one of the hardest in that century. Men of his soldiers froze to death and when Spring finally arrived Hasdrubal recruited some mercenaries to his Army. Finally in Summer of 251 he attacked Tyde. He personally killed the King of Caellaeci, Apanus. He enslaved the town and the loot from that town made him quite wealthy. With the fall of Tyde the entire Iberian peninsula was under the rule of Qarthadastim.

In the next update: 'The Great Northern Voyage of Admiral Abascantus'

[penguinking]

King Hamalcar attacking Vellika

That's a beautiful screenshot. You should consider entering it in the competition.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

That's a beautiful screenshot. You should consider entering it in the competition.

I actually have it in the competition. But I have the original picture and not this one.

[Joszen1]

Your AAR (and the 1.2 release) convinced me to try a Qarthadastim campaign. Playing on vh/vh and by 266bc I'll have taken Taras, Arpi, Arse and Capua. Took Taras first as I figured they would be a priority given that one starts at war with the Epeirotes. Then got jumped by the Romans, figures. Lost Gader to rebellion (abandoned it because it was indefensible). Bit worried about the Ptollies though. Where are they in your campaign? You promised big things from them... I'll keep reading!

[Ibn-Khaldun]

My current Qarthadastim Empire in Spring of 250 BC



World in 250 in my AAR



In 250 I'm in my second war against Ptolemaioi and in my second war against Romani.

[PriestLizard]

This is really awesome! Your pictures are great and I really like the style of this AAR. The only flaw in this one is that you play M/M because it will be an auto-win for your campaign. There is no way you can be beaten by any faction so the outcome is rather predictable (unless you are doing some RP-stuff later).

Nevertheless, kudos for you, this AAR is great, I will surely follow ! =)

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Chapter III: Time of Conquests

Part III: At World's End

In the same time when Hanno was conquering Africa and Hasdrubal was doing the same thing in Iberia Admiral Abascantus with more than 75 ships started his long voyage to the Northern Seas. This expedition was financed by Sophet Mago himself. He had gathered his ships to Gader and he started his voyage in the Winter of 260. Many people in that time thought that it's madness to sail into the Ocean during the Winter but Admiral Abascantus knew what he did. While he passed Akroterion Hieron he was lucky and more than half a year he enjoyed a very good sailing weather. Is it just a coincident but after Abascantus left from Gader big storms hit the town and it's port. If Admiral Abascantus would have been still there many of his ships would've been destroyed.

Ancient people thought that this kind of seamonsters lived in the Ocean.

Admiral Abascantus continued his journey to North. In Summer of 259Near Tyde they engaged some pirates who were a nightmare to the locals. This was not their main task but they cleared most of the western shore of Gallia from pirates during the journey. After that they continued North.

In Spring of 257 Admiral Abascantus visited a barbarian tribe called Casse. For a long time some of the merchants had traded with the inhabitants of Britannia but never had an official Qarthadastim ambassador visited the Island. In a town called Camulosadae they were welcomed and friendly locals should Admiral Abascantus their land. One of the many strange things he saw was a place with many great rocks, locals called them 'menhir'.

Menhirs near Camulosadae

After Abascantus finally left from the lands of Casse he headed North again. He wanted to create a detailed map of Britannia. In Autumn of 257 he had reached the Northern tip of British Isles, Caledryn. The Crew mentioned that it was stormy and very cold. Many men were frozen to death while they were standing. When they started to see large icebergs they finally turned back south.

Strange land they saw in North beyond the British Isles

While they were headed back south to Qarthadastim lands they had to fight against pirates more than once again. They did it in Spring and Autumn 255 and the result was that only 30 ships were still under admiral Abascantus' command. Admiral Abascantus also witnessed how the Venetii in Spring of 255 defeated Aedui forces that were besieging their town. In Autumn, in the same year, he reached the shore of Asturia. It took almost 9 months before they managed to reach Akroterion Hieron again. Next season, Autumn 254, he ended his long voyage in the port of Gader. Although this might seem an unimportant event to some it actually gave a lot of information about the British Isles and it's people. The most accurate maps in that time were created using Admiral Abascantus' notes. The great Admiral was rewarded with an estate near Kart-Hadast and he could've just retire. But as a true citizen of Qarthadastim he remained to serve the great navy that made him famous and respected among the great statesmen like Mago's successor Hamalcar and the Iberian Conqueror Hasdrubal.

If there is one thing I did learn during my long journey is that the world is a lot bigger than we might think.

[gamegeek2]

Speaking of which, in my Qarthadast campaign, I've conquered much of North Africa (Need to take Mauretania & Tingitania) and the whole of Iberia, in addition to all of Sicilia and Kalabria. I am marching into Italia with a character named Hannibal (should be Haniba'al, but oh well), whose army contains not only Sacred Band horsemen and Lanceari, but Neitos (best HI ever, better than legionaries because of longsword), various Scutarii, and Milites Ilegertum, as well as Numidian auxiliaries and, of course, Libyan and Liby-Phoenician spearmen.

Currently working on making myself eligible for reforms, Massalia is especially helpful (yay Brihentin & Neitos and Gallic auxiliaries). Qart-Hadast is awesome.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Chapter III: Time of Conquests

Part IV: Military Decline

Before we continue with the Kyrenaian War and Cotta-Gisgo Conflict we must talk about Qarthadastim military. After the War against Romani and the conquests made in Iberia and North-Africa slowly Qarthadastim military started to decline. Although they seemed powerful they were that not. In the beginning of year 250 there was only four armies in the entire Empire. Only two of them could be considered professional armies.

In Iberia Hasdrubal had gathered an Army of locals and mercenaries to conquer the whole Iberian peninsula. At the beginning they were not professional Army. They were brought together by Hasdrubal and only he was able to train them to fight as professionals. In the beginning of 250 they were the best Army Qarthadastim had no matter what others might think. The only problem was that they were loyal to Hasdrubal and not to Qarthadastim. In case Hasdrubal would've retired this entire army would've been disbanded. Their loyalty and loyalty of Iberians generally became a problem later to the next Sophet but we will get to it eventually.

In Italy there was the 'Sicilian Legion', the pride of Briareus Gisgo. Units to that Army were recruited from Taras, Capua and Rhegion. This means that there were a lot of Samnites, Bruttians and Greeks but only few units from Punic homelands. They were organized the way like Romani Legions. Having recruitment centers near by they had a big advantage over other Qarthadastim Armies. The down side for this army was that they were stationed in forts and didn't had almost no real battle experience.

Near Kart-Hadast Mago's Army were stationed. It was used against Rebels and brigands who popped out from time to time. Although many of them had fought against Romani and against Mauretanian states they were too close to the capital and that hurt their discipline. Many times entire units decided to go to Kart-Hadast and they did not care what their superiors said. Their commanders let this whole thing happened because they were considered heroes. Against proper enemy this Army would've suffered heavy casualties.

Near Kyrene Hamalcar the Younger(later known as the Butcher) had a small army of Lybians and some other units with the help of some mercenary phalangitai. Many historians wondered how was it possible for him to survive so long against superior Ptolemaioi Armies but Hamalcars talent as a general saved them more than once from a difficult situation. But they were far from any military centers and they couldn't get reinforcements for their Libyan, Numidian and Campanian units.

Also what caused problems was the Qarthadastim Senate concept of what War is. Their main priority was a strong navy and not strong land armies. They always expected that the enemy would give up after they loose couple of settlements and peace can be restored. They did not considered the possibility of fighting against the same foe for decades. Qarthadastim was not ready for a long war. And this is what hurt them the most in the next couple of decades. The unwillingness to change their policies almost resulted them the loss of their Empire.

In the next update: Kyrenaian War. Cotta-Gisgo Conflict.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Chapter IV: Rise and fall

Part I: Kyrenaian War (256-251)

In early Winter of 260 the Ptolemaioi leader, Philadelphos, attacked Kyrene and after brief fight the inhabitants recognized him as the new ruler of Kyrenaia. Two years later they took Augila. The Senate of Qarthadastim worried that the Ptolemaioi could continue their march to west, against Qarthadastim held Lepki. They were right. In Autumn of 258 Ptolemaioi Army, under Captain Agesilaos, crossed the border and entered Syrthim. Local scouts reported that unit of Klerouchon Agema was present in the army and so it was obvious that this was not some border patrolling force. The Senate feared that war will arise with the Ptolemaioi. Quickly some available units were gathered in Sicilia and under command of Hamalcar the Younger(son of Hamalcar, the conqueror of Sicilia) they sailed to Lepki. In the same time Philadelphos Ptolemaios avoided Qarthadastim diplomats that were sent to Kyrene. In Autumn of 257 Hamalcar the Younger arrived to Lepki. With his forces he could've easily defeated Captain Agesilaos' army and that must of been the reason why they turned around and headed back to Kyrenaia. Decided to make sure that Agesilaos would not change his mind Hamalcar followed him on his journey to east. In summer of 256 Hamalcar entered Kyrenaia. After that it was clear that war can not be avoided and the only questionwas - Who will start it?!

The answer is - Qarthadastim. Deciding to act quickly, before any reinforcements could be sent to Kyrenaia, Sophet Mago ordered Annibas, a diplomat in Alexandreia, in Autumn of 256 to declare war on Ptolemaioi. In the same season the first battle was fought. Hamalcar, with his superior forces, attacked Captain Agesilaos and defeated them. This battle was not important but had a huge impact to the morale of Hamalcars men. After hearing the loss of Captain Agesilaos Pythagoras Ptolemaites gathered some units in Marmarike and Libye and headed towards Kyrene. In Winter, Mago ordered to build 'The Great Fleet' and send it to east to blockade all of the Ptolemaioi ports. This almost bankrupt the state.

In Summer of 255 a large battle was fought between Qarthadastim and Ptolemaioi forces. Hamalcar, who had besieged Kyrene last season, was attacked by Pythagoras Ptolemaites. Philadelphos and the garrison of Kyrene joined the battle. After couple of hours the battle was almost over. Both Ptolemaioi generals killed and their forces dispersed Hamalcar marched into Kyrene. This was the first time when the dark side of Hamalcar was revealed. Most of the population of Kyrene was enslaved. It was decided to form a Colony there.

Diktys Salamidos Kypriakes

In Winter of 255 a large battle was fought near the border of Marmarike and Kyrenaia. Hamalcar who had headed east faced a Ptolemaioi general called Diktys Salamidos Kypriakes. Couple of months ago Hamalcar attacked him but Kypriakes managed to retreat. This time Kypriakes had reinforcements and decided to make a stand.

Having a lot of Machimoi Phalangitai units and even Klerouchon Phalangitai unit under his command Kypriakes was sure that he is the victor. But things did not work out the way he planned. Hamalcars Libyans defeated Kypriakes' Thureophoroi on flanks and attacked Phalangitai from behind. After bloody battle Hamalcars men managed to rout Kypriakes' army. Kypriakes himself managed barely survive the battle. Although Heroic Victory it had crippled both sides. Ptolemaioi was not able to push towards Kyrene and Hamalcar was not able to continue his campaign to east even though Egyptian heartlands wre pretty much defenceless.

Hamalcar watching routing Egyptians. Ptolemaioi banner in front of him.

In Autumn of 254 Hamalcar besieged Augila. He was surprised when he heard that the governor in Augila was Onas Salamidos Kypriakes, brother of Diktys. With almost no garrison Augila was easy battle. One thing must be said about Onas Kypriakes. He never surrendered. He kept fighting even when all his bodyguards were dead and the towns garrison defeated. Hamalcar showed respect towards him and a small tomb was made for him couple of miles from Augila. Soon after that Hamalcar headed back north. His supplies were almost over and men tired. On their way north they were attacked by D. S. Kypriakes with Peithagoras Theraia as his second in command. Although Kypriakes had more men he did not think clearly. Being angry because of his brothers death he attacked Hamalcars forces on a river crossing and that was just one of his many mistakes.

D. S. Kypriakes' forces cross the river.

Hamalcars African Pikemen and Mercenary Phalangitai killed most of the enemy soldiers. Diktys Kypriakes was the sole survivor of this battle. After that he went east and disappeared.

Diktys Kypriakes escaping after the Battle of the River.

In Summer of 253 Augila rebelled against Qarthadastim rule and became subjects to the Ptolemaioi again. But Hamalcar was too busy with preparations of Invasion on Crete to be bothered to go back south again. So far the war had been fought mainly in lands but now when most of the Qarthadastim fleets had arrived to the shores of Egypt war was fought mainly on Sea. In Autumn Qarthadastim fleet under command of Admiral Maharbal lost a battle against Admiral Kallimedes. Ptolemaioi used mighty Tetreis aginst some Pentekontaroi that Maharbal had. The loss of that battle was clear. Some months later Admiral Danel, the man who had destroyed the Romani navy, engaged Admiral Kallimedes and destroyed Ptolemaioi navy.

In Spring of 251 Ptolemaioi was struggling against both Qarthadastim and Arche Seleukeia, who had besieged Sidon. Finally after some discussions Ceasefire was established. It was not a Peace treaty but only a Ceasefire although many historians take it as a separate War.

In the next Update: Invasion to Crete. Cotta-Gisgo Conflict.

[julius_caesar_the_first]

This is one of the most interesting history books I have ever read . I really like the style in which you tell the story and also like the way you use the pictures and maps.

Congratulations and keep up the good work.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Dude where do u get those maps?? I need to use them.

[Skullheadhq]

Nice AAR

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Thanks!

And I kind of fixed the problem and I managed to get passed that year so .. this AAR can continue!!

I know I promised next chapter a long time ago but this time I really really will update it.

[johnhughthom]

Thanks!

And I kind of fixed the problem and I managed to get passed that year so .. this AAR can continue!!

I know I promised next chapter a long time ago but this time I really really will update it.

Good news.

[NickTheGreek]

Yes, very good news

[Maion Maroneios]

Ah, good to hear this will continue Good luck!

Maion