Roman: Scipii

[Pontifex Rex]

War! War!! War!!!

Report to the Senate 260 BC

Hail, and well met, fellow Romans,

The last five years have witnessed a quantum shift in the political and military efforts of not only our faction but that of the Roman Empire as well.

The plan to rush troops to Corinth to try and steal the city and the 'Wonder' failed as the Brutii did not wait to starve out the Macedonian garisson but assaulted as soon as their seige engines were ready. In order to forestall any further moves north the III Legion (Gaius Scipio) was directed to Thessalonica, where we entered the war against the Macedonians in the spring of 263 AD. After the briefest of seiges and moderately heavy casualties to our Samnite mercenaries, the city fell.

In the meantime the II Legion (Quintus Scipio) on Crete was fleshed out somewhat by mercenaries and sent to join III Legion in Greece. Our squadron of 20 Biremes defeated a small squadron Macedonian ships off the coast of Crete and reopend communications with the mainland. Before the two legions could link up, however, the Greek Cities declared war on our faction in the winter of 262 AD but was defeated in the field near Larissa (Thessalia) by elements of III Legion, now under Captain Secundus. II Legion was marched north from near the Macedonian city of Athens in the spring of 261 BC while III Legion laid seige to Larissa. Then, in the fall of 261 BC the pernicious Carthaginians, despite being in combat with the Greeks near Syracuse also declared war on us and have laid seige to Cornelius Scipio (our beloved leader) his I Legion and Messana. In Greece, a large Macedonian army marched south from Piaonia and has laid seige to Gaius Scipio and the garrison in Thessalonica. As of the time of this report, our faction is now at war with Carthage, the Greek Cities and the Macedonians.

Five Year Plan for the years 460 - 456 BC

We actually have a few miltary options but there are some risks involved. At Messana the I Legion (Cornelius Scipio w/ 24 Heavy Cavalry, 2 Hastadi, 2 Town Watch, 2 Veletes, 2 Equites) can either strike immediately at the Carthagian army (9 Iberian Infantry, 3 Skirmers) or wait for some reinforcements from Italy in the form of Lucius Scipio's column (1 Hastadi, 1 Samnite Mercenary, 1 Equites) which will march south into Bruttium and link up with our fleet of 60 Biremes. The relief of Messana would take place this fall. The decision on this will wait for 24 hours while those who wish to give advise may do so.

While events began to unfold in Greece and Sicily, Flavius Scipio had been sent north to recruit barbarian mercenaries from the Gaulish territories when he was commanded by the Senate to take the town Segestica. Unfortunately, when Flavius reached the town he found it already seiged by the Dacians, who look quite capable of successfully concluding the conquest. The column under Flavius' command (2 Barbarian Mercenaries, 1 Barbarian Cavalry) will now move as quickly as possible down the Dalmatian coast to reinforce our legions in Greece.

Captain Secundus (III Legion) will abandon the seige of Larissa and march north to Thessalonica and, together with the garrison, raise the seige, hopefully destroying the Macedonian army there. Quintus Scipio (II Legion) will hire what infantry are avalable near Thermon and harass the Greek troops in the region or perhaps draw the Greeks away from Appolonia by laying seige to Thermon. Desius Maecenas, governor of Kydonia (Crete) will also raise what mercenaries are available and send them to Greece to aid II Legion.

Ave Roma!


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[SWT]

I hope it not to crush your screen

I think it's not a huge empire, it's my first game...

At first I conquered Sicily, then, I defeated Carthague. After that, the Senate send me to Termon so I took Termon itself, Sparta, Athens, Thessalonica... Everything until Campus Getae. Next, I went to Turkey and took it all, to defeat the Greek Cities, and conquered some Ponthus settlements like Artaxarta and Kotais... I also sent an army to Africa to take Siwa, Cyrene, Lepcis Magna... And now i'm defeating the egyptians and their rebel cities. I'm playing in normal-normal. I have 41 regions... I want to finish it, and start another campaign...

Is my money normal? I could not spend it in my whole life! I would know if someone else has got this amount of money, I don't think I am the only one, there are players who are much better than me here!

[Quillan]

That looks fairly typical for the Aegean Sea. The exact number vary with population levels and port levels; I assume Halicarnassus is very large while Athens is probably the smallest in terms of current population level. But that area generates an OBSCENE amount of money, and it's even more productive in the hands of the Bruti, since they have a temple that increases trade goods.

[SWT]

Oh I see... What you said about Athens... The matter is that Athens is my capital And Halicarnassus is "ill" (sorry, do not know how to say it in English)

Is not Aegean Sea a bit unfair? Is there any other zone similar to that?

[Severous]

@ SWT

I see famous battle markers in the sea. !!

Ive never seen that before. Do you recall any battle that caused such markers ?

I have never seen that much money either.

[Quillan]

I missed the skull icon. The term in english is "plague". I don't know if there are any other differences between the different language versions, but in my North American version, most of those would have reached "Huge City" sizes, because of the city appearance I can tell an Imperial Palace has been built there. However, the maintenance costs are distributed in proportion to the current population. Assuming there aren't any other differences like Athens being the only one of your cities to have a dockyard or the market levels varying a lot between all these towns, the reason Athens is making so much more than the others would be because it has a lower population. Any city with plague has money problems, as pretty much all trade stops as long as the plague is active. I once had plague break out in 3 cities at once; it was a severe economic hit.

As to your other question, the eastern med is pretty good (Antioch, Tarsus, Salamis, Sidon, Jerusalem and Alexandria), as is the area right around Italy (Tarentum, Croton, Messana, Syracuse, Lilybaeum, Caralis, Carthage and Thapsus).

[SWT]

Got it Quillan, thanks! Yes, Halicarnassus had a plague in the picture

Corinthio has less population than Athens, but I think the matter is that Athens is the capital of my empire, so maybe that's why Athens earns the most money.

Another strange event has happen... Byzantium gives me the same money as Athens now!... It suddenly grew up from 2800 denarii per turn to 6500 denarii!

The same happened me with Carthage, Tapsus and whole Sicilia... They were giving me losses and now they all give me more than 3000 denarii per turn!

Severous, I have 3 famous battles markers in the sea, all of them in Aegean Sea. I think my boats' golden weapons, armours and chevrons helped to make an epic victory (In spanish it is "Victoria Épica", the biggest type of victory, I don't remember how is it en English... "Crushing Victory"?) and that's why I got it, I made Crushing Victories at sea...

I wish there are playable naval battles in next games...

[rotorgun]

Hey there SWT, Rotorgun here.

I couldn't help but notice the huge amount of income that you have generated in your empire! At first it was almost unbelievable, that is until I noticed that you have a virtual monopoly of the Agean, the eastern Medditeranean, and the Black seas. I also noticed that most of your ports are very well developed. You must be, in the tradition of the Armada, an Admiral de Los Mares de todo El Mundo, a veritable Don Medina Sedonna. I am very immpresed, as I am a proponent of the big navy strategy as well. How many ships do you posess in total? Do you use them to blockade your enemy's ports?

I was also wondering how one says plague in Espanol? I imagine it to be La inferma del muerte, or perhaps El muerte negro or words to that effect. I speak a modicum of La Lingua myself, and am always trying to learn palabras nuevas.

Muchos felicidades en Su strategia muy victoriso!

[CountMRVHS]

Ok, now I have to ask: how on earth do you keep track of your individual legions by number? I can keep track of certain family members, and remember which army I've got with Gaius the Killer, but II Legion, VII Legion...? Is there some feature I'm missing whereby you can label your armies, like the renaming cities feature in BI? Or do you keep track of it with a notepad?

You do a great job with these writeups, so I'm naturally curious how you go about recording it all. Keep it up!

CountMRVHS

[Pontifex Rex]

Ok, now I have to ask: how on earth do you keep track of your individual legions by number? I can keep track of certain family members, and remember which army I've got with Gaius the Killer, but II Legion, VII Legion...? Is there some feature I'm missing whereby you can label your armies, like the renaming cities feature in BI? Or do you keep track of it with a notepad?...You do a great job with these writeups, so I'm naturally curious how you go about recording it all. Keep it up!

I usually do it by the name of the commander and by breaking the action every 5 years (ten turns) for the right up and to let the scribes make their notes. If the action gets hot and heavy a few notes on the side can be kept. The garrison legions are set and deployed by geographical regions, i.e. XIII (Greece). Its four patrols are stationed about 1.5 turns apart and do not move unless they spot a rebel group or are shipped off to another legion (very rarely). Finally, once a legion starts driving in a ceratin direction, it will likely keep going, so its easier to keep track that way as well.

Being a bit anal about things doesn't hurt either. I like a tidy empire and a tidy battlefield. I also do not mind spending the time necessary to keep track of the story,... I'm in no rush to finish a game.

[Pontifex Rex]

Crisis of Empire

Report to the Senate - Spring 230 BC

The campaign in Asia against the Egyptians began much as had the one against Pontus, agents moved out in advance of the armies to gather information and assassinate any unwary army commanders and royal family members. A failed assassination attempt against the heir, much as had happened with Pontus, brought an Egyptian declaration in the spring of 235 BC. Unfortunately for the Egyptians their armies were not placed to advance against the Scipii holdings in Asia as they had just been defeated in Babylonia.

II Legion (Asinius Marcellus), having just finished refitting in Hatra, had planned on marching to our Parthian allies aid but instead moved southwest and took Palmyra, although at a heavy cost, after two field and one seige battle. Unfortuntely, while laying seige to Damascus, plague broke out in the city, and though an Egyptian attempt to raise the seige was easily destroyed but the II Legion could not escape the effects of the plague as the city fell in 231 BC. This once powerfull legion has been slowly decimated over the last year by the effects of the pestilence. Damscus is currently under Imperial Quarantine.

Meanwhile, V Legion (Decius Victor) closely followed by VI (Vibius Sejanus) wheeled inside of the march path of II Legion and struck for Tarsus and Antioch. By the time both legions had cleared the mountain passes three Egyptian armies had arrived to do battle. The could not save Tarsus but did pose a threat to V Legion as it marched through the narrows between Antioch and the mountains. Much of the pressure was relieved when the horse archer host of Scythian mercenaries attacked the Egyptian columns from the east and V Legion went on to take both Antioch and Sidon and has just finished refitting in southwestern Syria. VI Legion boarded ship in Cilicia and crossed over to Cyprus, quickly conquoring the island. VI Legion is now regrouping in northern Phoenicia, preparing to march on Jerusalem.

Lucius Scipio, the Scipii faction leader, was leading the I Legion in the campaign in Libya when, in the fall of 232 BC, a delegation from the Plebian class, posing as merchants, approached him outside of Siwa. They mentioned that the people of Rome and of the empire had grown to admire his miltary skills greatly and were growing restless under the thumb of the Senate and its corrupt ways. While stopping short of treason the delegates intimated that should Lucius make a bid for power he would find mind much support from the citizens of the city. Lucius replied carefully, as he feared a possible Senatorial trap, stating that he was a loyal citizen of the empire and that any changes in Rome would have to come through the legal means of senate reform, he would not consider military action. Using the excuse that he had a seige to run, Lucius thanked the delegates and sent them on their way with the promise to listen to their grievances in more detail on his return to Capua after the Egyptian campaign had been successfully concluded.

After the plotters had departed, Lucius send word to II, III and IV Legions to begin moving towards Italy. Unknown to Lucius at the time, II Legion was trapped in Damascus by the plague but III Legion immediately began to march from the borders of Thrace heading for Segestica and IV Legion withdrew from raiding rebel bands in Germania and is now camped in the Alpine passes leading from Noricum to Venetia. If the plague in Damascus contiunues, V Legion may be given orders to return to Campania in its place. Over in Iberia, the VII Legion (now under Captain Amulius) took the city of Corduba but young Servius Scipio fell in the battle when he was run through by a Carthaginian lance during a melee. Sextus Scipio is en route with Hoplite and Samnite reinforcements and will take command of the Legion and continue to attempt to block further Julii expansion.

With growing political instability within the empire it was decided to begin raising three new legions to cover both current Scipii holdings, fight the war against Egypt and be prepared for in case civil war broke out. Quintus Sextus is currently raising the VIII Legion from barbarian mercenaries up north in Germania and Scythia, Captain Augustus has begun training the IX Legion in Sicilia and Numerus Scipio has undertaken the raising of the X Legion in Campania.

Five Year Plan for the years 230 - 226 BC

Lucius Scipio, known as "The Killer" for his ruthlessness with enemies, is currently on the Libyan coast marching westward to rendezvous with a naval squadron that will carry him back to Campania where he will take command of the IX Legion when it arrives. Placus Nigidius is on his way to Siwa from Greece to take command of I Legion. In Asia, VI Legion along with II Legion will continue the campaign against Egypt. VII Legion will move north in Iberia and disrupt, as mush as possible, the plans of the Julii. VIII legion will back up the XI (Danube) and XII (Thrace) garrison legions. V Legion will board ship in Syria and sail for Italy where it will join with III, IV, IX and X legions and stand ready to ensure the survival of the empire and the dominance of Rome against all her enemies.
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[Pontifex Rex]

Civil War!!!

A message to the people of Rome from Lucius Victor, leader of the Scipii:

Citizens of Rome, we have been betrayed. I have brought my armies to these shores to prevent Rome and her empire from slipping into the hands of the wicked and corrupt. The Senate has debased itself, its members more interested in gaining wealth and power that performing their duties of governing, it has lost its moral authority to rule. The Julii and Brutii, rather than aid us in this noble cause of righting the wrongs of those appointed above us, have formed an alliance to overthrow the empire and establish the rule of selected families, perhaps even a monarchy.

When this crisis has past,...and it shall pass,...my armies will withdraw and the people of Rome will again be masters in their own homes. On this point, I give you my word as a Roman.

Civil war has to come to the empire. This spring the Senate declare both the Julii and Brutii outlaws as well as turning against our family. Lucius Victor had hoped to avoid war but the rot had sunk too deep. III and IV Legions immediately struck at Brutii and Julii positions in Venetia destroying a Brutii legion on the borders of Dalmatia and laying seige to the Julii city of Patavium. Patvium was liberated when the garrison attempted to break the seige with the aid of a relief column.

Meanwhile, in the south of Italy, V and IX Legions landed by sea and marched to Croton and Tarentum, laying seige to both cities, both cities fell in prepared but bloody assaults against trhe walls. X Legion stands on the border of Latium, prepared to defend Capua against the armies of the Senate should they move against us. In Spain, VII Legion destroyed a Julii legion, ending the attacks against the Spanish and opening the road to Numantia. Finally, II Legion, final free of the plauge, has begun its march on Bostra while VI Legion captured Jerusalem. Unfortunately for VI Legion, plauge has broken out and the legion is now under quarantine.

Immediate plans for the years 227-226 BC

V and IX legions will march north to assist X Legion at Rome while III and IV Legion will destroy the Julii forces in the north. With five legions in Italy it is hoped the campaign will be short but the Julii are strong and are bound to strike back. VII Legion will continue to harrass the Julii in Spain while I, II and VI will continue the campaign against Egypt. XIII (Greece) Legion, currently laying seige to Corinth will attack the city shortly and completely remove the Brutii from European territory. The fleet, now some 300 ships, will be tasked with preventing the Brutii from sending more troops to Italy from Africa. VIII Legion will continue to patrol in Germania, interfering where possible with Thracian attempts to expand further.
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III and IV legions in Venetia

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V Legion regroups at Tarentum and IX Legion at Croton

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VII Legion in Spain

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II and VI continue the drive in Asia

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