The Daughters of the Dragon: A Valkyrja AAR (ATW)

[SubRosa]

Thank you for the dance Olaf.

One last update before I turn into a pumpkin.

In the west, Polemusa assaults Vicus Aesti.


It is a nice winter day for a battle. The cold will preserve the meat of the corpses for Freja's ravens.


After the first breach was made a unit of Barbarian Infantry came to the walls, received a dose of Amazon javelins, and promptly decided that they had other places to be.


With the second breach open I waited no longer and entered the town.


I saw the Barbarian Cavalry waiting outside the square and immediately charged them with Polemusa.


Those Barbarians were tough, and really chewed up her bodyguard before they finally broke.


Then my infantry had come up, and once again a Rebel Captain was laid low by a mere spearman.


I am not sure what these guys are cheering about, they are about to become pincushions.


The javelins pulled them out of the square, where they were promptly routed.


The second Warband followed suit. Most people would probably end the battle here when the game offers you the chance. I never do during sieges. I always fight to the bitter end, even though it means taking more casualties when the routed enemy units get back to the square and reform. It just does not seem right to take the easy way out.


So I take the hard way, and suffer my worse casualties in a battle yet. Obviously Polemusa is not one of my most stellar Generals.


She Occupies Vicus Aesti.


Nearby, the Scythian siege of Vicus Neuri has been broken by the Rebels. *cackles gleefully*


This gives Makanyane a chance to take a crack at the Neuri.


Back west, Polemusa was out building a watchtower when she spotted another Rebel settlement.


Doh! The Scythians have gotten to Vicus Neuri ahead of Makanyane!


Looking south, even though the banners still say they are rebel owned, right clicking on the map shows that the Bosporus now belongs to the Scythians, and the Kuban to the Sarmatians. Given the amount of devastation around each city, it looks like they were long and bitter sieges too.


Speaking of bitter sieges, the Scythians have been beaten back from Vicus Neuri a second time. Truly Freja is with us, for she has given us this opportunity to smite the Rebels.


A new woman has come of age and taken her place amongst the leaders of the Valkyrja. I can use her, and the few other Generals who have adopted in recently, as I have a lot of watchtowers that need building. Not to mention for the powerful heavy cavalry units they provide. I have been avoiding recruiting troops to keep my treasury in enough money to continue building economic buildings in every city. I start with roads, then go with mines (when available) farms, ports (where available), and finally traders. I have yet to construct a single military building. I always go for the money in the early game.

[SubRosa]

My Diplomat meets the Dacians and makes the usual agreements.


As with the Thracians.


Terrible news. My Faction Leader Antimache has died (I need to think of what the Valkyrja would call their leaders, obviously Queen and Princess is right out, Strategos does not feel right either.)


Now Makanyane leads the Valkyrja.


Antimache could not pick a worse time to meet Kybele on her mountain. She leaves young Alkippe to lead the Eastern Army against a large army of Rebels, while an ominous-looking Sarmatian army has come north into our lands.


I missed the odds screen of Makanyane's assault upon Vicus Neuri, but did get the enemy troop composition. The Rebels are all seasoned veterans after defeating the Scythians twice.


I attack the city from two walls.


My Agema Archers soften up the defenders as my women bring up their ram.


The men have no opposition at the other wall, and enter freely.


Makanyane charged in once her wall was breached, and cut down the Neuri leader.


Then it was on the the town square, where the Agema Archers took over.


Makanyane's Bodyguard lent a few javelins to help.


I let the missile troops finish off the Rebels without entering the square. My preferred tactic. I hate those prolonged slug-fests in the square, where the enemy cannot rout. Note the difference in my losses compared to the bloodfests Polemusa has had in the west.


As it is small, I Occupy. As is probably obvious now, I always do so when a settlement is 1st tier or just over it.


They have a shrine to Bendis! Excellent, this will give my missile troops a bonus to their weapons.


In the East, Alkippe has caught up with that big Rebel army near the banks of the Volga.


There sure are a lot of them, including more Fanatics.


These guys are nothing to sneeze at in the early game.


The Rebel General gets the scent of Alkippe, and goes straight after her. She flees, and leads him to where she has her infantry hidden in the woods.


Then she turns and drops the hammer on him.


He fled. Alkippe let him go, having bigger fish to fry. Instead she let her Mercenary Virgin Horse Archers intercept him across the battlefield and run him to the ground. The caused a unit of nearby Peasants to rout just from proximity. Got to love when that happens.


Then it all fell apart. Two units of Barbarian Infantry got into the woods where my infantry was. My Warband evaporated in moments, and the Skirmishers chain routed a second later.


Worse, my Virgin Horse Archers were caught by a unit of Naked Fanatics while riding down the aforementioned Peasants. That was the end of them.


Okay, I still have a Horse Archer and my General. I did not realize it at the time of this pic, but the remnants of my Warband had reformed and were hiding in the woods somewhere. Things are not that bad though. I have the mobility, and I use it to pick apart the Rebel infantry one unit at a time. The trick is to let them chase the General and become exhausted, while shooting them in the back with the Horse Archer. Then charge them and finish them off. Often they will rout before you even make contact.


I stop and rest my women while more of the Rebels come charging up. It is important to give your cavalry breaks to rest during large battles. The more tired a unit is, the closer to routing they are.


I isolate another Naked Fanatic.


They rout without me going into melee.


I have to be careful while I run them down, lest my women blunder into these Barbarian Infantry. Thankfully the Barbarians routed themselves a moment later. Panic is infectious.


Then it was down to this last Barb Infantry unit. It did not last long.


Heroic Victory.


Young General Okypous intercepts some Rebels near the capital. I only mention it because the Rebels are two Generals, and I use some basic Horse Archer tactics to deal with them.


One of the Rebel Generals locks on to Okypous. She flees, leading them past her reinforcing Horse Archers.


Now Okypus will ride in a circle around her missile troops, who pelt the Rebel General with arrows as he rides by them. I call this the Scythian Circle. This trick will work with foot archers and slingers as well.


When the Rebels are whittled down, Okypous turns and slaughters him.


Then it was time for round two. But the second Rebel General was not so obliging. He catches one of my Horse Archers in melee and thrashes them before they can run far enough away to escape.


But then he was trapped. I call this the Triangle of Death. Basically you surround a unit (or units) with Horse Archers. That way you always have a back shot at them, and no matter which way they go, there is no escape.


He locks on to Okypous, and she takes him into another Scythian Circle.


Finally he routs.


Victory.


Another battle with Rebels. This time a lone Horse Archer takes on a Warband and a Peasant.


I concentrate all my fire on the Warband. I do not want to waste arrows against Peasants if I can help it. There are no fancy tactics needed here, just ride away and shoot them as they pursue.


I was able to finish off the Warband with arrows, but then I was out of ammo with plenty of Peasants left.


I ride in close, daring them to come after me. I want them to chase me to get them to Exhausted. But they will not budge.


I hate to leave the field to Peasants. My Horse Archers have axes, which gives them a so-so melee attack. Sometimes you have to roll the hard six. I throw the dice and charge.


The Peasants rout!


Another Heroic Victory.

[SubRosa]

I had to break this up into two posts because the forum software does not allow more than 50 pictures per post.

After the losses she took assaulting Vicus Aesti, Polemusa wisely decided not to take Vicus Gepidae by storm. Instead she settled into a long blockade to starve them out. On their last turn the Gepids sallied.


I move my infantry behind the rams, so they would break up the enemy line, while my cavalry moved to get around behind the oncoming Gepids.


Their first unit is quickly routed.


They head back to the city, and Polemusa see the gates open before her.


She rushes into the defenseless city. I could have had her ride around to all of the gates and this point, and then take the square unapposed to win the city. But I hate to do that when I know I can beat the enemy.


So she came back out to finish off the Rebels.


Down they went.


Victory.


Again, I Occupy.


Uh oh. Over the computer's turn the Sarmatians attacked. One force laid siege to Gelonos, while two others bypassed it and are now marching upon Neo Themiskyra.


Yet another Sarmatian army marches upon Melanchlaeni, and the Scythians hover like flies around my southern settlements.


Now the real fun begins! Young Alkippe hires mercenaries to replenish her Eastern Army and marches to the relief of Gelonos. See how it turns out next post.

[SubRosa]

One more post tonight.

Alkippe leaves her infantrymen behind and rides to the rescue of Gelonos.


The Sarmatians have Virgin Cavalry. These women are very dangerous in the early game, thanks to that armour-piercing attack.


These guys are dangerous at every phase of the game. They are the top of the Sarmatian heap. Their charge bonus is the highest of any unit in the game.


The Sarmatians have one weakness however. They only brought one horse archer. I concentrate all of my own horse archers against it.


In the process their Virgin Cavalry were drawn out after one of my Mercenary Virgin Horse Archers. I trapped them with my Sarmatian Mercenaries and General Alkippe herself.


That was the end of them.


At the other end of the battlefield the two Peasants from Gelonos arrived on the field in time to meet a depleted unit of Sarmatian Nobles. 480 Peasants vs. 32 Sarmatian Nobles. Who do you think will win?


The Sarmatians lost only one man in the process of crushing them both.


However, while they were running down my Peasants, I saw a weakness in the Sarmatian line. They had a unit of foot archers with no spearmen in front of them. I charged in with Alkippe and her Sarmatian Mercenaries.


The Sarmatian Virgin Archers simply disintegrated under the attack.


Then Sarmatian cavalry started to come in from both sides, and I pulled Alkippe and her mercenaries out of there.


These Sarmatian Nobles followed a little too far, and she turned and destroyed them.


That was enough for the rest of the Sarmatians, and they headed for the exit. I fell upon as many as I could before they could escape.


Heroic Victory.


Also my first famous battle marker of the campaign.


Back at the capital, another Rebel Amazon Chariot has appeared.


They are a pretty strong unit.


Just to see how it would work out, I charged the Peasants in to swamp the Chariots.


Victory, but with heavy losses from the Peasants. Plenty more where they came from though...


Okypous received a Graea as a retinue member after that battle. That should not have happened, only the Gorgons should be able to get them. One more thing for the fix list.


Back east, a Sarmatian force has crossed the Don to attack the lagging infantrymen of the Eastern Army.


My men do not stand a chance against those Virgins. I run for it.


Here is some good news, another General. Too bad she turns up in way out in Vicus Gepidae.


Those Eastern Army infantrymen retreat back to the safety of the walls of Gelonos, while Alkippe took the women and rode north west in pursuit of the Sarmatians converging upon the capital.


The Sarmatians have besieged Melanchlaeni as well. Makanyane is heading to their relief, and is forced to leave her infantrywomen behind to get there in time. At the end of her move she begins hiring mercenaries.


Then she send the mercenaries east to Melanchlaeni to reinforce the city, along with a lone Amazon Horse Archer that had been doing rebel-hunting duty.


In the middle of all this the Britons want to trade. Sure, why not?


When it rains, it really pours. Now the Scythians have attacked my mercenaries outside of Melanchlaeni.


At least I have the high ground.


Once again the AI made the fatal mistake of leaving its archers unprotected.


I think one of these archers was the first woman to reach the moon...


The rest of the battle did not go any better for the Scythians.


Unfortunately some managed to escape.


Heroic Victory.


Next turn Makanyane reaches Melanchlaeni and hires more mercenaries. This is really killing my treasury. I have had to suspend all of my building projects to hire and maintain all of these hired bows.


Makanyane does not wait for the rest of her army to come up. She immediately attacks. Her bodyguard is now the size of a regular cavalry unit.


She sees a good piece of high ground in this hill on the Scythian flank and swings her army up around them and onto it.


The Sarmatians come around the left, but are met by infantry and Sarmatian Mercenaries.


While on the right, Makanyane is simply rolling over the Sarmatians.


The Sarmatians have had enough, they head for the exit.


Victory, but many escaped.


Melanchlaeni is now safe.


But the Sarmatians have also besieged the capital of Neo Themiskyra.

[SubRosa]

Alkippe has caught up with them however, and she attacks one of the besieging armies. She does so at night, preventing the second Sarmatian army from entering the battle.


This rock has a good view of the battlefield.


This unit of Steppe Lancers came too far forward, and was pounced on by Alkippe and her Sarmatian Mercs. You can see Okypous and the garrison of Neo Themiskyra are now engaging the right flank of Sarmatians in the background.


Alkippe and her heavies chased the fleeing Sarmatians directly into the rest of their line, and sent them all packing.


Not to be outdone, Okypous took on a pair of Steppe Lancers and defeated them handily.


The rest of the Sarmatians were on the run.


Then their army just disintegrated.


Sadly, a few got away. It is usually impossible to catch all of the routers in these steppe battles.


Victory.


Same turn, the second Sarmatian army outside of Neo Themiskyra is attacked.


Alkippe grew tired of waiting for the garrison of Neo Themiskyra to get on the field, and attacked the Sarmatian center on her own.


Still taking their time....


Alkippe crushed the Sarmatians.


By the time the garrison arrived, the Sarmatians were in full retreat.


Victory, and the capital was safe from invaders.


Here is the situation. In the east the Sarmatians do not have a lot in sight, but I am not sure what might be lurking in that dark area where Campus Roxolani is.


To the south, powerful Scythian armies lurk along my frontier near Androphagia. Not good.

[Monk]

Wow, tons of screens there SubRosa! I had gotten through nearly all of this last night only to find you posted another installment this morning.

Looks like a really fun game, hopefully you'll be able to secure peace with the Sarmatians before having to deal with the Scythians on your southern flank. I'm not sure I like your chances in a two front war.

Looking forward to more.

[SubRosa]

Thank you Monk. I always use a lot of pictures in my AARs. Typically I will have about 1500-1600 in each. As the campaign goes on I will not have to go in so much depth in every battle, so they will decrease in that respect. But there will be more battles overall, so they increase that way.

My plan right now is a two front war in fact. At least a limited one. It will be tough, because I am very stretched in my interiour and have to use mercenaries to outfit most of my armies. But a good challenge makes the game fun. I plan to send Makanyane south with her army to deal with the Scythians in the open around Androphagia, then press on against their cities. She will be the main hammer, because wiping out the Scythians will give me more stable frontiers and also Black Sea ports for trade. The secondary front will be led by Alkippe, who will lead the troops from the capital south-east after Campus Roxolani. I may stop there, or head east across the Don and into the Sarmatian heartland. It all depends on how things are going.