Post your EB empires!

[Mulceber]

Sounds like a plan -M

[Arthur, king of the Britons]

Yeah nice empire Skuda.

(shameless bump)

[Nobo]

(shameless bump)

There you go:



This is my current Macedonian Campaign. I've been trying to pace myself, by playing a global police force and making sure no faction got too powerful. For example, I re-conquered most of Italy for my Roman allies, after Karthadast sacked Roma. Unfortunately I failed miserably in establishing a balance of power in the east, because I underestimated the Ptolemaioi and actually helped them take some AS settlements So now I am fighting off 2 stacks, full of Elite Phalanx units each turn, which is already getting a little old. The only way I even managed to take those two levant cities, was by sneaking a spy in there and then launching a naval attack, after he opened the gates... but now the reinforcements come knocking on my door every turn....

[Teucer]

That's some Yellow Death you've got there... I don't envy you having to deal with all those phalangites

[Duguntz]

Here's the Sweboz expansion, behold the mighty Germanic Kingdom, might ye all shiver in front of our gods!



Ha, the year is 198 BC, and the formerly Makedonian imigrations have, finally, been repealed by Persians... I'm fighting on two fronts, Repelling stack after stack from Lusotan (blistering barnacle of bloody battles, fortunatly, with my bodyguard being the only one wearing effective armour, i can laugh at their AP weapons! MOUHAHAHAHAHA!) and fighting the Epeirotes on my eastern flank... my north east is.... COMPLETLY SECURE the AI having time to built stack after stack of triple gold chevron armies, and there's NO WAY I'll go play there... one problem, after gawjam-bastarnoz (my last settlement in order to fulfill my campaing requirement) revolted to me, a fullstack of horse archer took it almost free of casualty while decimating my whole army..., and there's a wall of fullstacks of Bionic AI soldiers under 10 stars generals wich effectively block my way till that last settlement... and I realise with.... pitty... that I'll have to carve my way threw epeirote, Sarmate, and Dacia, before reaching it from the south... many years of campaining in perspective...

[MButcher]

The finished product of my Ptolemaioi campaign. The last thing I did was conquer Pella from Epirus, leaving me with a severely depleted royal army.

I wish I could keep playing, but after I bought Lepki from Kart-Hadast the game no longer loaded my save games.

[Hannibal Khan the Great]

Did you change your faction color? It looks like the Seleukids were the ones to conquer all that...

[Mulceber]

Ok, so after 3 months of schoolwork (during most of which I had no access to a computer capable of playing EB), I'm finally back to finish off my AAR of the Roman Republic. For those of you who might need a refresher, here's the linky to my last post, which ended with the Triumph of D. Iulius Caesar after his victory in the civil war. Anyway, here goes...

Endgame: Or, How to Win Friends and Destroy the Republic

“He's a tyrant, Sulla,” the first man stated bluntly.

“And yet he's been remarkably benevolent...” his companion scoffed at the assertion.

“Our ancestors ordained that there should be two consuls, to be replaced yearly. They founded our constitution in this way to prevent any one man from establishing a tyranny over the Roman People!”

“We've had Consuls serve successive terms of office before. Remember Lucullus?” the companion posed his point as a rhetorical question. Of course they both remembered Lucullus, the popular politician who had prosecuted Rome's final war against the Carthaginians and had reformed the army to allow the proletariat to serve.

“Lucullus also had too much power, but even he did not win his consulship in a civil war and maintain it for himself for five consecutive years,” the first man inveighed. “Caesar is destroying the Res Publica that has been handed down to us from our ancestors. He is sneering at the customs of our ancient race.” His voice was almost a yell, his handsome features, only slightly wrinkled by age, were distorted with righteous anger.

“But look at his deeds,” the second man's argument was faltering. “He has expanded Roman control to encompass the entirety of Gaul and has established colonies of citizens there. He has created hundreds of jobs for the proles in his building projects – why his Amphitheater alone employed over two thousand of the plebs.”

“You would barter away your constitution and your liberty for a few colonies and an Amphitheater?” The first man asked incisively. “I know you better than that, Sulla. Yours is an ancient name. The good men will rally around you. You must kill Caesar.”

“Your name isn't any less ancient than mine,” Numerius Cornelius Sulla responded defensively. “Your ancestor was Appius Claudius Caecus. If you hate Caesar so much, why don't you kill him? For that matter, if you hate him, why did you help him achieve power in the first place?”

“When I allied myself with Caesar, I did so in the mistaken belief that he was a good man,” he responded smoothly. “If I had any inkling that he would keep the consulship as his private possession, I would never have done what I did. As for why I do not act myself, I am too old. Revolution must come from the younger generation, from your generation.”

“Are you so sure this is for the good of the Res Publica?” Sulla asked. “If we kill him, who's to say another won't rise to replace him?”

“Fortune favors the bold.”

“I'll think about it,” Sulla said hesitantly.

“We'll talk more about it later,” the first man said delicately.

The rule of Decimus Iulius Caesar Gallicus had indeed been unprecedented. After his triumph in the Fall of 125 he had kept his legions camped just outside the pomerium, a move whose message to the Senate could not have been clearer: Caesar's will would be obeyed, or there would be consequences. Nevertheless, there were no deaths in his consulship, and the conqueror of Gaul made a general amnesty one of his first directives as Sole Consul. After this he began a vigorous program of public works, including a fresh aqueduct, a rehabilitation of the perennially seedy Subura and the construction of the monumental Amphitheatrum Iulium. Rome was changing, this much was plain, although no one knew what was to come.

In Fall of that Year, Caesar ran for Consul again, a move which caused much resentment among the Senators. He won easily, the spoils of his Gallic Campaign and the power of the Caesarian Party greasing the wheels of public opinion. This victory was accompanied by radical new legislation which gave Caesar the right to hold the Consulship without a colleague for the next decade. The Senate was uproarious until Gallicus calmly asked who would like to speak against the motion. The Curia fell silent, and the Senate meekly voted for the bill.

During this time period, C. Claudius Pulcher came to the fore as one of the Consul's chief lieutenants, and was awarded another Praetorship in 124. Caesar's other most prominent supporter, A. Cornelius Scipio, was rewarded for his loyalty in the Civil War with the Proconsulship of Gaul, even though he had never served as Consul in Rome. Over the remaining years of the 120's BCE, resentment, particularly among the Senate, steadily grew. If Caesar noticed, he must not have cared. Business and politics continued as usual, and Pulcher accrued greater and greater power as Caesar's subordinate. Some advised Caesar that Pulcher was too ambitious to be trusted, most especially the Consul's twenty-year-old son, Caius, but the trusting old man dismissed such fears.

On the Kalends of September, 120 BCE, Caesar was making his way to a meeting of the Senate. Pulcher was not with him, but instead had sent a message claiming to be incapacitated by arthritis. Caesar had sent a note wishing him well and was now deep in conversation with Nm. Cornelius Sulla, and his brother Titus, and surrounded by a throng including P. Papirius Crassus, the brothers Manius and Titus Cornelius Scipio, their cousin Servius, A. Iulius Iulus and K. Iunius Silanus. As the crowd reached the steps of the Curia, the brothers Scipio, standing behind Gallicus drew daggers and stabbed him in the back, piercing his kidneys. As the old man screamed, Silanus and Iulus both drove their own knives into his stomach, Servius Scipio stabbed him in the side while Crassus and Titus Sulla pierced his chest. Finally, Numerius Sulla stabbed the Consul in the neck. Covered in blood, Caesar slowly fell on the steps.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The assassins shouted their victory to the surrounding crowd, but were met with stunned silence. The first to make any movement were the attendants and friends of the Consul, who ran into the Senate house and broke up the furniture into clubs. They then returned outside and threw themselves at the murderers, beating them ruthlessly with the remnants of the Senatorial furniture. At this point all hell broke loose as the surrounding crowds joined the fray, some fighting for the assassins, others joining with Caesar's friends. Caesar himself lay dying on the Senate steps, all but ignored as civil violence broke out all around him.

Several of the assassins died during the fray, but by luck, most of them escaped the mob. Nm. Cornelius Sulla found himself close to the house of Pulcher. Seeking shelter inside, he was greeted by Caesar's lieutenant. “It's done,” Sulla said, panting. “I've followed your advice and killed the tyrant. The Res Publica is safe.”

“Excellent,” Pulcher smiled. “What has the reaction among the plebs been?”

“Some of them are a bit angry,” Sulla replied. “But they will realize that it was all for the best.”

“I cannot tell you how much that pleases me,” Pulcher moved forward and embraced the younger Sulla in a hug. Sulla began to return the gesture, but suddenly felt a stab of pain as Pulcher smoothly slid a concealed knife between his ribs. Sulla gasped audibly. “You have saved the Res Publica.” Pulcher stabbed again. “The rule of law has been restored.” He stabbed one last time and then let Sulla drop to the floor. Turning to his freedman he said dismissively, “put the body some place where no one will find it.”

[Arthur, king of the Britons]

Excellent writing, my friend! Let's hope those nasty assassins get what they deserve...

[Mulceber]

Oh they will...as I'm playing it right now, about half of them are about to fight a battle against Caesar's son. -M

[Biowulf]

My current Romani campaign, 150 B.C.




From East to west: The Carthaginians are the new Iberians, they almost went crazy in Gaul but I took the African cities and gave the Aedui a lot of money every turn.
The Lusotannan are down to just Burdigala after a hard-fought war between them and Carthage.
The Aedui killed the Arverni early on and had the Sweboz as protectorates once before. They would have died against the large Carthage stacks, but diplomats intervened and saved them. As of now they are beginning to push into Iberia against Carthage.
The Casse are sitting pretty on their island
The Sweboz lost the war against the Aedui and now they sit and try to take on the rebel super stacks. A couple settlements revolted to them but they haven't expanded or tried to attack anyone.
Me: I took Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia early on, then went to war against all the Greeks. I started with Epeiros, then invaded the Koinon by sea, and the Maks betrayed our alliance. Only Epeiros remains on the Greek mainland, and the Koinon died before I wanted them to. Then I bummed around for a bit, building up and watching the world until the Carthies attacked through Gaul at which point I launched one failed campaign into Africa. My second attempt went far better and after a 14 year war I kicked them out. Once I took Lepki, the Seleukids betrayed me and now I might just send some armies over and take Egypt from them.
The Getai have been good neighbors and are former allies. They went south against the rebels then north against the Sauro's and have kept them in check along with Hayasdan.
Epeiros was once mighty, but no longer. They sit in Byzantion mourning their former empire.
Makedonia was forced down to just Mytilene, but now they've grown. They single-handedly took out Pontos and I had to stop them from killing off Hayasdan once before. I couldn't be bothered to save the Armenians a second time, but they might just expand and take the lands east of the steppes.
The Ptolemies no longer exist thanks to the Seleukids. They were beaten down to just Salamis and launched failed naval invasions that surprised the hell out of me. They managed to take Rhodes for a couple turns before I nabbed it back. Then they lost their last family member and disappeared.
The Seleukids are a somewhat comeback story. They lost Antioch before even a year was out, but from Damascus and Edessa they took it back and rampaged throughout the Ptolemaic lands, squashing them, the rebels, and the Parthians. Right now I'm at war with them and have to bribe a lot of armies coming my way.
Sauromatae are surviving only because of rebellions and luck. They look to be on their last legs because they can't even expand anymore.
Hayasdan is on its last legs as well, losing both Armavir and Mtishketa in the same turn. hopefully they will survive a bit longer because I think Makedonia is coming east at me.
Parthia has stayed alive because of rebellions and never has more than 4 or 5 settlements to its name. I expect they'll survive for a while yet, but they'll never thrive.
Baktria! my favorite faction in this campaign. they were down to 3 regions, 2 indian and 1 eastern, but they fought their way back into supremacy against the Saka. Once Baktria regained their capital the Saka had no chance and were slowly beaten down. I thought they would end up like Parthia, but no such luck. They were killed off while I was fighting in Africa.
Edit: The Sabaens are holding off the Seleukids by virtue of rebellion and large homeland stacks. The Sele's managed to threaten the Saba capital once or twice but nothing came of it.

So there you have it. It's been fun and I've been moving slowly trying not to kill of factions myself, although I may have to in order to keep my borders safe. I'm at a point now where I'm not sure where to go, so if anyone has a suggestion I'm willing to hear it.

[Mulceber]

In the immortal words of Cato the Elder:

"Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam." [Therefore I urge that Carthage ought to be destroyed.] -M