Roman: Scipii

[Roman_Man#3]

very interesting roma, but lacks a lot of detail.

[GeneralHankerchief]

I return to the Guides forum after a long absence.

How many of your RTW games have lasted 100 years? Well, my Scipii game has just passed that mark and the Civil War hasn't even started yet!!!

Started out pretty generically - I take Sicily, island hop, Western Africa is mine. Crete and Rhodes are also nabbed before those nasty Brutii can take 'em. Anyway, here's where things start to get interesting. The Brutii, having taken all of Greece, decide to expand north and into Eastern Europe. So they leave me with two big empires to take down: Pontus (Asia Minor and the Parthian/Armenian territories), and good ol' Egypt, which owns the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean.

So the conquering begins with a man named Secundus Dolabella leading a half-stack and taking Pergamum, finishing off Greece in the process. Cue up the Pontic full-stacks. Army after army dies at the gates of Pergamum, without success. They breach the walls, they break the gates, but they just can't take the streets! It was some of the toughest defensive fighting I've done, and loved it. The highlight was when there were two full-stacks attacking from opposite directions. Obviously, one of the gates were gained but I had my Arcanii run all the way across the city and ambush the attackers who were making their way up the streets. Heroic victories were common.

After reinforcements arrive there are dual armies making their way through Asia Minor, killing stack after stack of Pontic troops. Secundus dies as faction leader with something like ten command stars, six heroic victories, and a lot of influence.

Meanwhile an effort is made to capture the Nile, with success. The Egyptian stacks are even more numerous though, but luckily enough troops were brought over so that the generals weren't forced to remain in a city at the mercy of the enemy.

It takes forever, but Egypt and Pontus are conquered and driven deep into the desert. Meanwhile, back at home things look ok. There is an obvious rivalry between the Scipii and the Brutii with the Senate favoring us. The Brutii are the more powerful faction in terms of military, but the problem is that all their forces are out in the middle of nowhere or assisting the incompetant Julii in driving the Britons out of Europe.

At the moment, it is 170 BC and there are four non-Roman factions left: Spain, Brittannia, Pontus, and Egypt. Spain is about to be conquered by the Julii. Brittannia is fighting valiantly but losing their grip in Europe. Pontus, bled out by Dolabella, hasn't been on the offensive in twenty years. Egypt is the only faction that can threaten, but they no longer have a financial advantage. So the time has come to attack the other Roman factions.

The brass in the Scipii family, Julianus the Killer and Lucius Scipio (until recently, the only actual Scipio left), have decided to do a three-pronged attack. Large, powerful Roman armies will strike Tarentum, Corinth, and Byzantium simultaneously. Everyone waits in anticipation as the long rivalry is about to be turned up a notch...

(The storytelling baton is passed back to you, Pontifex Rex. Hope you don't mind that I interrupted.)

[Pontifex Rex]

Hope you don't mind that I interrupted

Nah,...go ahead. I'm off to wargame tournament in a couple of days and may not have time to post the next chapter beforehand.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Good God, this is a refreshing change, I'm in the fight of my life here.

When we last left off the civil war was about to start, with me preparing to strike Tarentum, Corinth, and Byzantium simultaneously, along with continuing to finish off Egypt. The results were mixed.

Tarentum - taken without difficulty. This was the first strike. Seeing as how the culture was Roman and was close to my capital (Syracuse), I occupied. After five turns of constructing the typical starting garrison - two archer auxilia, two legionary cohorts, one Roman cavalry - I moved on to Croton. As soon as it's taken, the Julii amphibiously land a medium-size force consisting solely of Praetorian and Urban Cohorts. Wow. I do the best I can but am hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed. Tarentum falls and they exterminate it. As soon as that happens the army in Croton hires mercenaries to garrison it and immediately resieges Tarentum. It is retaken and that's where the army is now.

Corinth- The Wonder was a huge boost for my Eastern settlements. I was expecting a Brutii effort to reclaim it but none came. I figured that this would be my primary expansion point in Greece, while Byzantium held off the brunt of the armies. Boy, was that silly of me. All of a sudden the Pelloponessius is clogged with Brutii troops. Good ones, and lots of 'em. The reinforcements trying to help were defeated soundly, but luckily both generals survived. The army trapped in Corinth is extremely high-tech, but I don't know how much more they can take.

Byzantium: This is the new Pergamum. The poor troops in the city lost their 65-year-old general before the first Brutii assault, so they had to repulse it without a leader. I had to bring Decimus Scipio, Lucius' son, all the way from Memphis to help out. More battles have been fought but this army, unlike the one in Corinth, is in good shape. Once this last siege is repulsed I think I'll go on the offense.

Egyptian front: Two armies are making their way through the desert, little by little whittling away at the Pharoah's power. The Egyptians have been completely cut off from water (including the Red Sea), but it's been costly. Lucius' son Titus in his first action, was killed by an Onager in the taking of Petra. That hurt, but my heir himself died in a massive battle for Bostra sometime later. Right now Lucius' former army is bloodied, in a city not high-tech enough to retrain, and with several large Egyptian armies nearby. I'm sending the other force to assist, but it's going to be hairy.

Future plans: Gentlemen, this is where I'm stumped. A new army in Sicily is being created but that's a little off. I'm thinking about sending the Italian army to Western Greece to help out. Anyone have any other suggestions? I'm really enjoying this campaign right now and don't want to lose.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Fight defensively against your fellow Romani and level Aegyptus. Might want to build one amphib strike force to single-turn land and destroy their coastal towns -- economic war. Or send a youngling out to get Horse archers and then play mongol with that half stack. In general, keep them distracted while you consolidate Aegyptus and rebuild class armies.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Thanks for the advice, Seamus. Not much has happened since I last posted, but the Brutii have suffered. I have a blockade of all their cities in Greece going, which is playing havoc with their economy. Secondly, Athens is mine. I think I've finally bled them out in Lower Greece, but now I have to worry about all their northern armies shifting down from fighting the barbarians. Luckily, this is having an effect as much of their northern territories have rebelled.

The bad news is that the Julii have now taken an active interest in Tarentum. My plans of sending that army to relieve Corinth have been delayed. Looks like the new army will first see action in Julii territory to distract them a bit. Meanwhile one of my forces in Egypt is on the march to Seleucia, where they can rebuild. My navy is being kept busy with the blockade of Greece and ferrying young generals to where they need to go.

As of now, things aren't looking too bad. The only two variables are how many men the Pharoah has around Seleucia and how focused the Brutii will be on Byzantium.

[Roman_Man#3]

do u have any screenies