Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Summary of my Seleucid campaign

  1. #1
    Senior Member Senior Member Ibn-Khaldun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Estonia
    Posts
    5,489
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Summary of my Seleucid campaign

    Before I start...
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    I had no plans onwriting an AAR when I started the my campaign(this is on TWRome:Remastered). It was meant to be achill after work Seleucid playthrough. It's played on M/M so thosewho only play VH/VH might think it looks easy.. I mean I am acasual player after all.
    As this was not meantto be an AAR there are no pictures of the events I talk about and itwill be written using different characters(depending on the events)and a "letter" format.
    If moderators thinkthis should be in some other forum they can just moved the threadthere.


    Part I -Anatolia


    "Tonight we will tell each other tales of our bravery and show why we are the heirs of Ale..."


    "No, no, no...it's overused.. everybody have heard this already," saidKassandros interrupting his scribe, "and we are not writing adamn epos. It's just a detailed summary of the past few decades. So,we should start by explainig why we use the BC for our dates."Kassandros sighs, and continues,"Twenty years ago my grandfather, late Antiochus, visited Delphi and received two prophecies. First one said that our civilized world will be destroyed by an event 270 years from then. The Great Catastrophy. Of course some people took it too seriously and started using "B.C."to mark the dates. BC meaning Before Catastrophy," Kassandros shakes his head a little and continues," and these days that has somehow become an official way to write down dates. The second prophecy said that the descendents of Seleucus will rebuild the empire Alexander once conquered."


    "After the prophecy was revealed to our family we had a purpose.. a goal.. a target. We accepted our fate as the rebuilders of Alexanders empire and have been working to make it a reality ever since."


    "So, where shouldwe start first? Anatolia? Egypt? Mesopotamia?" Kassandros thinks for a second and not allowing his scribes say a word he continues,"Anatolia it is then."


    "In 270 BC our Anatolian holdings were in dire situation. No real army, open for attacks by our neighbors but my uncle Alexander saw an opportunity. He managed to convince Antiochus to give the funds for a mercenary army to take Halicarnassus just south of our lands. In the next few years he had taken Halicarnassus and subdued Galatians and secured our holdings in Anatolia. As he was making plans on conquering Bithynia, Pontus launched a surprise attack on Ancyra. First Pontic war had begun. The next few years saw plenty of skirmishes but no real decisive battles. In the end as Alexander was heading towards Pontic lands a peace was signed. I remember my uncle being furious cause he felt a glorious victory was robbed from him but that peace was neccessary. Armenia had attacked Hatra in Assyria and conquered it. After the peace was signed with Pontus Alexanders son Gyras took over protecting Anatolia. For few years provinces enjoyed times of prosperity and stability. Gyras took over his fathers mercenary army or as it became known as the Great Mercenary army few years later. Cretans, Rhodians and other Greeks from the west, Galatians,Sarmatians, Scythians, Thracians. It looked more like a barbarian warband than an proper army but for some reason it worked..


    By 260 BC Gyras was confident enough to continue his fathers work and took his army to Bithynia. As he was about to besiege Nicomedia he received a message from south. Greek army from Pergamum had attacked Sardis. Gyras' situation near Nicomedia was interesting though. A bit south west of the town was a Greek army, his army was south of the town and Pontic army east of it. He could besiege Nicomedia but the Greek army would be able to roam freely or he could follow the Greek army, destroy it but leave Nicomedia for Pontus. Even though Pontus was "neutral". Somehow he managed to destroy the Greeks and reach Nicomedia before Pontic army could get there. Still amazed by that. A hastily put together militia army managed to scare the besieging army to retreat from Sardis. This gave enough time for Gyras to take Nicomedia and head south towards Pergamum. Once the city was taken plans were made to take Rhodes. It had a large force protecting it but Gyras was sure he can take it none the less. And then he felt what his father felt years ago... a peace was signed with the Greeks. Just like years ago it was neccesary. A large Pontic force had appeared in Galatia and was heading towards Ancyra. Not sure if the Pontic general heard of the peace with the Greeks or they found out about Gyras' army approaching but they left in a hurry and peace with Pontus remained in effect.


    In 253 BC, just as three other armies were preparing to finally launch an attack against Greek cities, another campaign was already set in the works as well. Alexander had retured to Anatolia in the head of a newly recruited army from Syria to do what he was about to do about decade ago. It was time to take the fight to Pontus. In a coordinated attack both Mazaka and Sinope were besieged. In a year the Pontic forces were defeated and their kingdom destroyed."


    Kassandros smiles and continues,


    "I was part of that campaign. My uncle Alexander and I attacked the Pontic king in Mazaka and killed him. I guess it was the hatred against the king.. but he gave the order to sack the city. It lasted four days. City was in flames, soldiers looking for people to kill.. it was a massacre.." Kassandros sighs, "but neccessary. After that we've had no problems with the prevously Pontic lands. I left with a small cavalry force and headed to Syria to inspect a new army being formed in here. It's mission is to conquer Palmyra and Nabataea and I'll be leading it."


    "We'll take a small brake now and then continue with destruction of Egypt... or with the campaign in east?"


    Who is who:
    Antiochus – Ruler of Seleucid Empire in 270 BC
    Alexander – Son of Antiochus
    Kassandros – Son of Demetrius, Grandson of Antiochus
    Gyras – Son of Alexander
    Last edited by Ibn-Khaldun; 05-16-2021 at 16:51. Reason: Adding missing spaces and fixing some typos

    Members thankful for this post (2):



  2. #2
    Senior Member Senior Member Ibn-Khaldun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Estonia
    Posts
    5,489
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Re: Summary of my Seleucid campaign

    PartII – War in the East


    Looking through all the messages and orders on his table few caught Kassandros' attention. These belonged to Aristarchus, heir to the Seleucid empire in 270 BC.


    Quote Originally Posted by Message from Aristarcus to Antiochus
    Father,
    Our spies have revealed that Susa is only guarded by the local governors bodyguards. Most of their army stationed there have moved south into the desert. This is the perfect time to reclaim the city! Hopefully by the time you receive this message our banners already fly over Susa.
    Aristarchus
    "The sacking of Susa... of course," Kassandros leans back on his seat. "This marked the start of the War in the East. Aristarchus thought that by sacking the city it will send a clear message to Armenia and Parthia to stay away from our lands. He was wrong. Few years later we learned that all of our enemies in east had become allies in a war against us. While Alexander was conquering Anatolia, Aristarchus was chasing shadows. Parthian army in the south avoided his attempts to corner it. To make things worse another Parthian army had arrived south. Comprised of cataphracts and horse arches Aristarchus had nothing to match them. Staying away from their armies while sending orders to Seleucia and Susa to recruit more troops...any troops they could muster.


    And then Armenia attacked Hatra. Our main forces in Syria had moved south to fight Egypt while forces lead by Aristarchus were dealing with the Parthians. Hatra seemed doomed... and it was. I think it was 263 or262 BC when the city fell. Aristarchus, realizing he is about to be surrounded sent a message to Alexander in Anatolia."


    Kassandros going through the papers in front of him and pulls one out...


    "Here it is.. a message sent to Alexander by Aristarchus."


    Quote Originally Posted by Aristarchus' message to Alexander
    Brother,
    I need your help. Hatra has fallen. There should be a new army training in Antioch. Use them and take the town back. I'm counting on you.
    Aristarchus
    "Alexander arrived Antioch and took the "army", more like some levy and militia units, there towards Hatra. The battle was bloody but Hatra was retaken and Armenian main force annihilated. In the same time Aristarchus saw some success against Parthians and destroyed all it's forces in Mesopotamia. This gave some time to build and recruit and prepare for a campaign against the remaining enemy provinces in the north."


    "In the same time Egyptians had landed an army south of Antioch wich forced Alexander rush to the defence of the city. Plans were made to stop any more of these suprises by taking Cyprus. He attacked the Egyptians and forced them back to their ships after a short battle. Year later he was the one to land an invasion. His forces arrived north of Salamis and fought a large battle against defending Egyptians. After victory in Cyprus he returned to Antioch to make the final preparations on his campaign against Pontus."


    "In 261 BC Antiochus had died and Aristarchus had become the new ruler. He used his power to pull units from nearby garrisons and recruiting all available mercenaries to create two armies in an attempt to finally take the fight to Armenia and Parthia. He and his adopted son Aeson of Antaradus started the campaign somewhere around 256 BC. Both saw just minimal resistance to their advance towards the enemy cities. Aeson quickly took Kotais and moved towards the Armenian capital Artaxarta. Their king died a pathetic death on the city square getting pierced by one of our pikemen. By then Aristachus had reached Arsakia, Parthian capital, and after a rather uneventful siege their town was sacked. Our border was secured at last and enemies defeated... at least that what everybody thought. We soon learned that Parthians had sent an expedition far north into the steppe and established a colony there. Aristarchus was furios... and our own expedition force was put together. Aristarchus and Aeson were to head north towards the edge of the world to wipe out Parthians once and for all. They are heading out next season. May the gods watch over them!"


    Kassandros takes a sip, leans back and says...


    "That concludes the War in the East. Next is our campaign in Egypt... and perhaps after that our current campaign in Greece."


    Who isWho:
    Aristarchus– Son of Antiochus, became the ruler of Seleucid empire in 261 BC
    Aeson of Antaradus – Adopted son of Aristarchus

    P.S.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Fighting horse archers is annoying! They kept withdrawing from battles.
    Last edited by Ibn-Khaldun; 05-15-2021 at 10:05.

    Member thankful for this post:



  3. #3
    Stranger in a strange land Moderator Hooahguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    The Fortress
    Posts
    11,851

    Default Re: Summary of my Seleucid campaign

    Im enjoying this, but some pictures would be a nice addition!
    On the Path to the Streets of Gold: a Suebi AAR
    Visited:
    A man who casts no shadow has no soul.
    Hvil i fred HoreTore

  4. #4
    Senior Member Senior Member Ibn-Khaldun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Estonia
    Posts
    5,489
    Blog Entries
    4

    Default Re: Summary of my Seleucid campaign

    Unfortunatelly I don't have the earlier saves from the start of the campaign.

    I usually keep 3-4 manual saves for my campaigns. Save before every battle and before ending the turn. Haven't had any gamebreaking bugs in the Remaster but I have had to abandon campaigns in the orioginal back in the "old" days. Usually mods conflicting etc. So, at most I have saves that go only couple turns back. But when I get to the current war in Greece I'll show the world in my playthrough.

    Member thankful for this post:



Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO