Zalmoxis's Lightning: a Getae AAR (Completed)

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Twelve

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The ink on our treaty with the Athenians was barely dry when we received word that three large Spartan armies have entered our lands! They began plundering the countryside, since there was nobody there to contest them. And how could we with only two armies? They had almost 8,000 men under arms in the immediate area while we had maybe 5,000. Combine that with their superior armor and weapons, it would only spell disaster for us if we attacked.



Panic was rife through our ranks. Nobody knew how we would defeat these three large armies which, combined, could smash our armies with ease, especially if they managed to separate our two armies. We felt that this would be the end of us, the end of all our conquests over the past few years.

But then one of our king’s advisors thought of something. If we could simply split up those three Spartan armies and fight them one by one, we would be able to defeat them without having to take on over eight thousand Spartans all at once.

This would take planning, and in the meantime we raised every fighting man available to come fight. We also hired as many mercenaries as we could afford, even if they were Greek, as a surprising number of Greeks hated the Spartans for some reason. Our numbers increased to over 11,000 men under arms. Not all of them were fully trained like us, and only a small number of us had serious battle experience, but the numbers still counted, and with that we felt much more confident about our chances.

And with our numbers greatly inflated, we marched towards what would be a very eventful week.



We spotted our first target. One of the armies had split from the other two, and was now separated by a river. By the time enemy reinforcements arrived it would be too late. But before that, we had to whittle down the Spartan numbers. Infiltrators managed to poison some of their food supply, and we began hit and run attacks on their forces in advance of our armies arriving to offer battle.

By the time we arrived, the word was that the Spartans lost a third of their forces even before we arrived.



We deployed for battle. Blaikisa, who was the overall commander of our armies for this battle, addressed us.

“Comrades! Do you know what we are here for today?”

A few men called out a variety of answers like killing Spartans, or living to see the next day, but he shook his head, called for quiet, and began to speak again.

“No! My comrades, you are here to annihilate those Spartans! Surround them! Cut them into a thousand pieces of flesh that even the smallest of animals can feast on when this day is through! Show them no mercy, for they will show none for us! Now go forth and win this day, for your tribes, for this nation, and for glory!”

A rousing cheer came from the ranks, but my mind was elsewhere. I thought of my family who was no longer with me, and a feeling of sadness washed over me. I really missed them, and if those Greek raiders had not showed up at our village I might not be here today. Then I remembered why I was here in the first place, and that feeling of sadness turned into anger and I excitement as I waited for the word to advance.



Blaikisa raised his sword, and up and down the lines the captains pressed their men forward.

We advanced, with our heavy cavalry on our flanks. We would need all the support we could get for this battle. The Spartan strength was in their heavy infantry, not their cavalry, so we were not concerned about that, but we would need heavy cavalry to help break their formations.



But we were not going to just face them head on. That would never work nor break them quickly. So a large number of our men ran down our right flank. The forest covered their movements so the Spartans never reformed to meet the new threat.



We marched toward the Spartans, and that is when we first saw them. They were truly fearsome.



But we had no chance to feel terrified, for we charged into those Spartan spears.



The Spartans had large shields with reinforced iron, so killing them was rather difficult, at least from the front. We managed to kill a number, but for a while it was almost a standoff with neither side getting an advantage over the other. But the main Spartan weapon was in their formations, and once we broke their shield walls I feel we were pretty well matched. I managed to kill at least half a dozen Spartans before they broke. They are very good with the spear but I outmatched them when it came to the sword.



But while I was an expert swordsman (not trying to boast, I swear), my countrymen were not doing quite as well across the battlefield. In at least one place it even seemed as if the Spartans would break through our lines and possibly escape relatively intact, for they had sent in their cavalry and they were causing some havoc among our men.





And that is when we sent in the reinforcements. From the rear of their lines, a dozen of our units, mainly mercenary units, charged into the Spartan line.



We had surrounded them, and even their most elite units began to fall under our swords, especially with our heavy cavalry making repeated charges into enemy flanks.



They were completely surrounded and falling fast. Our numbers were simply too many for them to handle, and they fled the battlefield.



Or at least they tried to, we slew most of them as they fled, but a couple hundred still got away. We only assume that they ran to their other armies for what they assumed would be safety.



We had utterly crushed them. We had lost not even 300 men, which really shocked us. Varga and I got through our first encounter with the Spartans with our swords bloodied and our bodies unscathed. It didn’t even feel fair to be honest. Morale soared among the ranks. If we could so utterly crush them this time around, surely we could do it again!



But this was just the beginning of our encounter with the Spartans. There would be many more in the future, as there was still thousands of Spartans out there for us to kill!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Author's note: I'm legitimately shocked how easy this went.

[Sp4]

What do you expect? =P Steamrolling the poor AI with 4 armies and agents! You need war on more fronts =p

[Hooahguy]

I know, I know. Im actually also at war with Cimmeria for some odd reason, and Ill imagine I will have to turn on the Ardiaei eventually. Plus Tylis still is a thorn in my side.

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Thirteen

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Immediately after we defeated the first Spartan army we moved over the Achelous River to confront the other two Spartan armies.

We didn’t attack immediately. We stalked them for two full days. We did not want to confront both armies at the same time. After all, divide and conquer was the way to victory! The Spartans surely knew where we were but neither side attacked, leading to something that resembled how a cat and mouse interacted. But instead of a cat and mouse, it was two large armies facing off.

But of course our plan was not to just hound them forever. When one of those two armies was nice and comfortable inside their temporary fort while it was pouring rain, we struck.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Author’s note: Like an idiot, I did not take a screenshot of the pre-battle screen. Sorry.

We sent in our men to cover all entrances to the fort. Nobody was going to escape this battle, and while those Spartans took cover from the rain we would strike, hopefully launching our assault before any meaningful defense could be organized.

But they were not totally oblivious to the ways of war, for they had sent out numerous patrols. When they spotted us, they headed back to their fort at full speed to tell their army to rise and prepare for attack. It was hard to hide over ten thousand men from an enemy army, so we wanted to make sure none of their scouts made it back alive to give them any information that might hurt us.



But those scouts did not make it far; we were able to catch them with our cavalry and slay every last one of them.



There wasn’t only cavalry though: they had sent out infantry as well to help patrol. While our cavalry was mopping up the cavalry, our infantry took on the other patrols.



And once the cavalry finished, they joined the infantry in the fight, ending that fight rather quickly.



With the scouts finished off, we charged the fort! Everyone was equipped with a torch to help burn down those palisades that they seemed to foolishly rely on for defense.



Their defense was better in some areas than others. On the western side the Spartans failed to form a solid line of defense, and we managed to enter the fort and establish a foothold. Of course the Spartans quickly recovered from that, but we held that foothold.



On the southern end they had held their gate well, not allowing us initially to break through. We would need to burn down their walls to gain access.



And on the eastern side… well, nobody really knew what was going on there; the fight kept going back and forth between us gaining a foothold into the fort and being pushed back.



Finally the southern walls began to collapse, and our men had a much easier time to storm the fort, but they were still held up by stubborn Spartan defenders.



On the western side our men had made significant headway, with our archers helping thin enemy numbers. And with their help, we finally managed to break the defenders on the western gate, and we spilled into the fort.



With one gate fallen, many Spartans tried to flee the battlefield, but they were run down by our cavalry. We counted dozens slain by our men, and maybe only a dozen who was able to escape.



Back inside the fort, the tight and organized Spartan lines melted into one on one combat, the kind of combat that we excelled at.



Finally we were able to break the final defenders holding up our forces at the eastern gate with a substantial charge into the rear of the Spartan formation. After a few minutes of fighting, the remaining few hundred defenders surrendered. We did not accept their surrender, and we carried on.



The slaughter of the Spartan army continued until there was nobody left to kill. When our swords were lowered and the clamor of battle subsided, we surveyed the damage. Almost three thousand soldiers from both sides lay dead within the fort. After burying our dead and burning the remainder of the fort, we packed up and moved towards our next battle.



We had sustained more casualties than in the last battle, but still managed to escape this battle with fewer casualties than expected. Perhaps the legends were exaggerated…

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Fourteen

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After our victory over the second Spartan army, we began to chase the last one incessantly. For three days we chased the Spartans, not letting them rest, not letting them eat, assaulting their patrols as often as possible, and all the while, their morale ebbed away.

Finally we cornered them against a mountain. With nowhere to go, the Spartans had to accept our offers for battle. Let them die a glorious death at our hands, instead of dying from hunger or desertion! We outnumbered them more than two to one! Victory was assured, and we were eager to finish this battle.



It was a gorgeous day that we lined up for battle. The sun was out in full force, a far cry from the last battle where we fought in the rain and mud.



Off far in the distance, the Spartan remnants looked down upon us, seeing their deaths approaching. They had to be soiling their pants for what was coming!



We took our time getting into position. They had no relief armies, and the sun had many hours left before it departed for the day, so we were in no hurry. And if our patience unnerved the Spartans even more, all the better! There was heavy forest on our left flank so we put all of our cavalry on our right flank, including our horse archers. We hope that with a withering barrage of arrows we can help hasten the Spartan rout.



We finally charged up the hill and into the Spartan lines. The men who faced us were not hoplites but simple swordsmen, which made their departure even simpler for us. We were used to fighting hoplites by now, but fighting simple swordsmen? Child’s play for us battle-hardened soldiers.



But it was not our swords and spears which caused them to run. It was our horse archers. They were grouped en masse and they rained hell upon the Spartan formations, killing hundreds.



Of course the Spartans were not just going to sit there and take it, so they sent in a unit of spearmen to remove the threat our horse archers were to them. Unfortunately for those spearmen, they did not see our cavalry hiding in the tree line, and they were swept away by thundering hooves.



On the left flank, not having any cavalry or spearmen there to counter their cavalry proved fatal for well over one hundred of our brothers, as their cavalry combined with their infantry tore through our lines. They almost broke through if it wasn’t for our reinforcements preventing the rout of our men in that area.



It did not take too long for the green Spartan forces to begin to fall back, and eventually, rout. Most didn’t get far. Our horse archers watched them carefully, striking down any Spartan who fled.



And what started as a trickle became a stream. And from a stream, a torrent. The entire Spartan army was on the run, and our horse archers and cavalry rushed to take them all down before they evaded us.



But there was one holdout: the Spartan royal guard. They were defending the Spartan royal heir, who apparently was commanding this final Spartan army. They fought hard, killing over two dozen of our men in less than a minute after first contact. So we held back, and let our arrows do our fighting. All we had to do was hold our shields close and not lose any more men. I was among that front line against the Spartan royal guard, and blocking those maddened thrusts from the Spartans was a very tough task. As our arrows rained down on them and picking them off one by one, they were increasingly desperate to get out of their predicament, and their attacks became more and more intense.



But all we had to do was buckle down and let our arrows do the work.

Eventually the royal guards were whittled down to only a few men. They tried to escape but it was too late for them. We hunted them down with no pause, and that was the end of the battle.



Turns out, the royal heir, his entourage, and a few other survivors from the battle managed to escape, preventing a total victory.



But they did not make it far. We found them not far from the battlefield, and we slaughtered them with a thousand arrows.



But as we were celebrating our victory, other forces were claiming a much greater victory: the capture of Sparta itself!



The city was assaulted on a stormy day, making the ground slick with mud as our men trudged and slipped towards their assault positions.



Getting nearer to the city, our forces split up. Our spies reported that they have pike phalanxes in the town, forcing us to split up our forces to make sure we wouldn’t have to throw ourselves upon their pikes in an endless slaughter.



Reaching the city center, our forces mercilessly attacked the forces in the way of their final victory.



Some Spartans tried to flee, but they did not get very far.



Most of the defenders were merely boys, unfit to stand up against us. It seems as if the Spartans sent all their best men against us in the field, leaving few good men to protect their previous city.



Once all defenders of the avenues into the town center were broken, the battle was quickly over.



The Spartans soon surrendered. There was no gallant final stand, much to our disappointment.



We did not lose even 200 men in the assault, a rather easy victory.



With the capital taken, we executed the Spartan king and royal family and occupied the city. Sparta was no more!



With news of the fall of Sparta spreading throughout the region, Athens declared war on us. Again. So we took the severed head of the Spartan king and sent it to Athens as a warning of what war would bring. They ignored our warning, and we geared up for war once again.

But even if the Athenians did not declare war, we would have still been on the warpath either way. Tylis has gained ground against our allies, and it is time we step in and wipe them off the face of the earth. I think Varga will be very happy to hear that!



But first, we have a more pressing matter at hand. Not only is the city of Athens, or as they call it, Athenai, in our grasp, we are in position to strike against Apollonia, the other Athenian town. Athens was lightly defended and should be easy to take, while Apollonia would be a tougher nut to crack.



In any case, the Spartan war did not even last two moons, a rather short war by our standards. But by the gods, it was a bloody one. Thankfully it was much more their blood than ours. It has been years since we have seen peace, and it doesn’t seem like it will come any time soon.

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Fifteen

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

With the road to Athens wide open, Blaikisa jumped at the chance to take the city. Bringing a second army along, he put the city under siege. Meanwhile, Dadas marched towards Apollonia and the large Athenian army there, taking it slow to avoid any possible traps as they traversed the mountainous terrain. I decided to tag along with the force taking Athens, because it was always said that Athens was a beautiful city and I really do not want to miss out on an opportunity to fight through the streets of one Athens and spill some Athenian blood in the process. Varga decided to stay back, for the odd chance he finds some Tylans to kill.



After ladders were built, Blaikisa ordered an assault. The city was lightly defended, and frankly, underwhelming. We anticipated a sprawling city with huge buildings. But other than a large temple and a few sort of large government buildings, it reminded me of a standard Hellenic town. Quite disappointing if you ask me.



Our men climbed over the walls, eager for the fight! We had eight ladders, so we were able to spread out our men in order to prevent being bogged down in any one place.



Most of what the enemy had were militia and levies, along with a few units of slingers, so the fights on the walls were not too difficult.



We managed to take one of the gates, though with losses. Their archers were barricaded inside the gatehouse and it took a while before the barricades were broken down and the archers killed. In the meantime, they managed to kill dozens of our men.



With a gate open, the rest of our forces charged into the city, preparing to take the city center and wipe out the rest of the garrison.



But things were not going too well on the walls now. Using a corner of the walls to their advantage, the Athenian defenders managed to pin down two of our units, a unit of Triballoi swordsmen and a unit of Thracian infantry. Once pinned down, Athenian slingers went to work. With their sides completely exposed, our men were cut down in droves. When we finally got units to their position, we found every one of our men slain.



When news spread of the complete loss of two experienced units, it only enraged our men and they fought even more ferociously against the defenders on the walls who still held out.



Finally the defenders on the walls were routed and slaughtered, and we got into position on the ground, facing the few defenders left at about two hundred paces away. Neither side made a move. The air was silent, save for the faint cries of the wounded in the distance. We paid them no heed as we stared down our foes. The Athenians knew very well what was coming, and they could do nothing to prevent it.



That is when the sound of two hundred hooves beating the ground was heard. Our horse archers arrived.

Taking aim, they loosed volley after volley upon the Athenian survivors huddled in the town center.



Desperately trying to hide under their shields, the remaining Athenian defenders were being slowly killed off by our arrows. This was child’s play though. We wanted to wet our swords with Athenian blood before the battle was over, and if the archer’s managed to kill them off before we could get our chance, we would be rather angry.




Bored with waiting for the archers to do their thing, a few of us climbed to the top of the hill inside the city, and looked over Athens. It really was a nice little city. Not quite Pella, but nice architecture and nice greenery made Athens a place maybe one day I might settle down in. Maybe.



We made our way back to our lines just as our archers received the word to cease fire. There were still some defenders left, so we drew our swords and charged, intent on finishing the job as quickly as we could. We would be getting our swords wet in the end after all!



The few remaining Athenians who still stood against us could barely hold their line as we threw ourselves against their shield wall mercilessly.



It wasn’t a very good shield wall, and we broke it rather easily. With their shield wall shattered, it wasn’t long until they began to flee. They didn’t get far though; we ended up capturing over two hundred Athenian soldiers on the roads out of the city, and they were brought back in chains.



Athens was in our hands now. We had lost two entire units of veteran soldiers, which really hurt as losing veterans was always a tough ordeal, and a few other units had taken severe casualties. But otherwise our casualties were light.





On our other fronts, the Scythian fleets finally left the mouth of the Danube, giving us much relief!



Now that the southern peninsula was in our hands, we could concentrate on taking out Athens once and for all. As I travelled back to Dadas’s army, I remembered how just a year and a half ago we were all panicking for the large Athenian armies heading in our direction, and with Tylan armies bearing down on us, it all seemed hopeless. But nowadays, we are the undisputed masters over Athens, and soon, the rest of the Greek peninsula!

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Sixteen

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Immediately after we took Athens we moved on Apollonia. A third army, fresh from the siege of Athens, joined the other two preparing to lay siege to the final Athenian town.


Now here is where we had to use strategy. The Athenians had a lot of experienced soldiers with pikes. We cannot face them in an all-out assault as we would get torn to shreds upon their pikes, even with our vastly superior numbers.


So we surrounded them and waited it out.





It only took a few weeks. The large army that was reinforcing the garrison managed to get on ships and flee the city like cowards. It didn’t take long after that for the garrison to surrender without a fight.





But of course, the Athenians still posed a major threat, especially with that large army patrolling the waters just outside Apollonia. We could not leave the area until every last Athenian army and fleet was gone.


Both fortunately and unfortunately for us, they were now all at sea. They had limited supplies but they also had free reign of the local seas because we do not have a navy, at least not yet. We would either have to build one or we would have to wait this one out.





Thankfully though, they came to us. A few weeks after we chased the Athenians out of Apollonia they came back in force and assaulted the city.





Instead of unloading further down the coast and marching to face us as a united army, they decided to land directly in the city. I'm not sure their reasoning, but it was kind of terrifying to see all those ships slowly making their way to shore towards us, even though we knew they would be landing in different areas, fragmenting their formations to our advantage.





We waited patiently for what was to come. We had deployed on the beaches, waiting for the ships to arrive so we could catch them as they left their boats.





A cry went up from our left flank. More Athenians were coming from the left side of the city! We had not seen them approaching while watching the main army come via ships, and now they were rapidly advancing towards our unguarded left flank. We had infantry reinforcements coming in, but they were on foot and would take a while to arrive. And we couldn’t divert men away to counter the new threat, because if we cannot put our full weight on the incoming seaborne assault then we risk being overrun.





So we sent cavalry to stall the new threat until infantry could arrive.





They charged at the Athenian cavalry and managed to chase both them and a unit of slingers. The other units had spears or pikes so our cavalry steered clear of them, hoping that the infantry got to them first before they would reach the town.








Meanwhile the Athenian naval forces got off their boats and charged ashore, right into our waiting spears, which punctured their leather armor pieces as our arrows gave them an iron greeting from above.





But enough of them managed to get off the boats and form phalanxes, making the situation much harder. After a long while, we managed to break one of them, opening up the rest to flanking attacks.





Just outside the town, the reinforcing infantry finally reached the advancing Athenians and was able to stop them from entering and causing havoc within the city.





Though it was at considerable loss; they managed to form a phalanx against our men and slay a large number of good Dacian warriors before they were eventually routed slaughtered.





Back on the shoreline, a few Athenian units snuck around the side, trying to flank our main line, but were stopped by a single unit of ours. They ended up losing all but two dozen of their men, a truly heroic effort!





The battle slowly turned in our favor as Athenian units began to rout. Once a pike phalanx breaks, its men are easily slaughtered. They do not have our skill when it comes to the sword, and their strength is in their long pikes.





With bloodlust raging through our veins we chased after all the fleeing Athenians. Some initially tried to make it back to their ships, but they had beached them so they offered no refuge from our blades. The only option for them was over land. They did not get very far.





Back on our left flank our infantry was still embroiled in battle with a few stubborn Athenians. But a piece of wood cannot hold back a wave, and they broke after repeated cavalry charges, even after taking refuge in a wooded area, hoping to prevent our cavalry charges. It didn’t work, and not a single Athenian survived the encounter.





Back in the city, only a few levy hoplites stood against us, and being pressed by both sides, they did not last long.





But that was not the end of the battle. Somehow a number of enemy units including hoplites and slingers got off further down the coastline and snuck in through the city.





We managed to catch the unit of slingers before they got very far and would be able to do some damage.





But the hoplites managed to sneak in and attack our generals, who were commanding the battle from the town center!





Our generals quickly withdrew from the town center as our available infantry rushed in to take out the unsolicited attackers. Generals on horseback have no business fighting hoplites. Though they did happily help in the pursuit!





There were still a few more ships coming towards the shore, so our men had some breathing room before the last leg of the battle began. The bodies littered the town and surrounding areas.











The last few ships hit the shore, and their eager crews jumped off, not knowing the fate of their brethren.





They soon found out.





With the final Athenian units routed and hunted down, the battle was over. It was a bloody day. Mostly it was Athenians who were lying on the ground, but quite a few of our brothers had fallen as well. But even with over a thousand of our dead, it was a good time to celebrate. We had wiped out three Athenian armies. Yes, two of those were not very large, but that was still three fewer armies than what they had before the battle, and now we were three steps closer to wiping out Athens once and for all!





With no way to reinforce or resupply, and no friendly port to take shelter in for the coming winter, the remaining Athenians were trapped out at sea.





To make things worse for them, the Romans joined the war on our side. Obviously they only joined in to have an easy finish to this war and claim some of the glory, which we were okay with, and we hoped that the Roman navy would eventually clean up what was left of the Athenians.





More importantly, we could now turn our attentions to other foes, such as Tylis.


To date, it has been almost five winters since we began this campaign against Athens. I find it amazing how much time has passed since that fateful declaration of war from Athens in support of their ally Tylis. Tylis was never truly a problem for us except for a tight spot here and there, but it was Athens who truly made us sweat. And as I recall, it was because of their Athenian allies that we got put in quite a spot when we sustained multiple attacks by powerful armies within a couple of days. With their formidable pikemen, they cut down hundreds of our men. I put them only second to the Rhomphaia when it comes to feared weapons. You can block or get past a Rhomphaia with enough skill or quality equipment. Much harder to get past a wall of pikes, and both skilled and unskilled warriors fall to a pike phalanx. But for now, that ordeal was over for us.


The age of caution is over. Once we can be sure that Athens is no longer a threat at all, we will move west, wipe out Tylis (which Varga is very excited for), and then move on foes unknown.

It is a great time to be part of the Getae!