3rd Legion - Roma's Bulls

[CountArach]

I think it was because I no longer share a border with them.

[Kushan]

So whos the next target? Epeiros? Gaul? the Greeks? OR another go at Carthage?

Kushan

[CountArach]

Chapter 10 - The Last Great Deeds
246 – All – The Consulship of Manivs Otacilivs Crassvs, Marcvs Fabivs Licinvs

Dearest Sister,

I know that you were expecting me to be home by now, yet the third legion has once against been called to duty!

I told you of the Peace Treaty that was arranged with Carthage. Those filthy, lying bastards betrayed our trust and used the time that they gained from the peace treaty to stab us in the back and regather their strength.

Well news of the war reached us early in 246. Apparently, they laid siege to their former stronghold of Lilibeo with a small invasion force and the war had spread to our theatre.

The Carthaginians still had an army on the peninsula, and the decision to fight was made by Lvcivs Cornelivs Scipio. However, we could not go straight away, we still had to get some of the loyal tribes to give us troops to garrison Gader. So we could only begin to seek an engagement in Autumn.

As the season for campaigning started to approach a close, the Carthaginians were getting more and more complacent, believing they could renew the hostilities next year. They started to become sloppy.

We caught them though, and forced them to battle.



The army was comprised mainly of natives of the island who had been pressed into service by some Carthaginian Loyals.

We deployed in our formation, for the last time, and got ready to show these Carthaginians once and for all who was superior. Our navy was there to prevent escape and to give us somewhere to retreat to.



The battle started with the standard exchange of missiles



This was followed by an infantry and cavalry charge to ward our skirmishers off. They ran through our ranks and hid behind our army, pelting the enemy with missiles during the battle.

The Hastati took the brunt of the charge, and we were attacked by some stragglers who were attempting to flank the Hastati



In front of us was the most mayhem I have ever seen.

The enemy infantry had formed a disorganized, though potent, mass and had charged the Hastati and some Lucanians. The enemy cavalry was on our right of the line, hurling javelins into the fray, kicking up dust as they went.

So we hurled our javelins.



And charged



The enemy quickly broke under the combined pressure of our charge and the redoubled efforts of the Hastati.

So we had broken most of their centre. That still left their elite troops.

Some men that they call Scutarii charged us. Their shields were huge and their spears razor sharp.



Then I noticed the cavalry behind us.

I made preparations to withdraw our men behind the Triarii, then I realized the Triarii were engaged with some of these Iberians, aiding the Lucanians.

Thank Mars for Cornelivs Scipio.

He charged around the Triarii and into the enemy skirmisher cavalry, saving my men from being slaughtered. Many men, including yourself dear sister, have his foresight to thank for having their sons, brothers and fathers home.

Yet we still had the Scutarii to deal with. They were holding on, and the combat swung from one side to the other. I killed many men in this fight.

Eventually the Hastati had dealt with the last of their enemies, having re-engaged with some cavalry and some skirmishers, and turned to charge the rear of the eenemy.

This broke the last remnants of their morale.



So my last battle, and the most glorious in our history was over, and I can now return home, knowing that I fully served the Republic. I would have given my life, but I did not have to.





So now sister, I can return home and take command of the family and our estates.

With love,
Spvrivs Cordivs

[CountArach]

So that finishes off this legion. They can now return home and another legion can take their place.

No more Spvrivs Cordivs :(

[Boyar Son]

It wasn't the Carthaginians that called them scutarii, it was the Romans!

Too bad for Spvrivs though...but good that he had lived when Rome needed it's finest. Patriotic even though Rome as a politcal state is gone.

Well the name of the new character is,

LVCIVS DECIVS CAIUS

Good luck!

[Kushan]

Any chance we could see him back as a veteran soldier?

How many years was in between wars? Sometimes I think removing diplomats from RTW would be a good idea, every war would be a fight to the death :)

Kushan

[CountArach]

Are the images showing up for you guys?

EDIT: Well it appears that I have exceeded my bandwidth already! Wow, only took me about 3 weeks... I'll upload the last chapter to another album now, and I guess I'll see if that sorts out the problem.

[Boyar Son]

CountArach, how long are you going to have the 3rd legion going, or prepare for a long line of generations!

[Shifty_GMH]

Well done CA. I enjoyed reading your AAR.

[CountArach]

Thanks guys!

Should be another update today some time.

[Boyar Son]

Well the name of the new character is,

LVCIVS DECIVS CAIUS

Good luck!

Plz?

[CountArach]

Nah. The third name implies that he is nobility.

[Boyar Son]

Nah. The third name implies that he is nobility.

Therefore he should start of as triarii?

How 'bout LVCIVS DECIVS VITELLIVS ?

[CountArach]

Nope, I've already taken pictures for the next couple of chapters, and it is too late to change it now.

[CountArach]

Book 2 – A Prologue

And so the Third legion returned to their homes, their wives, their family.

Shortly after the disbanding of the legion, the 2nd Punic War was ended. Yet that was not going to be the end of the conflicts with Carthage. Peace was signed in the summer of 244, yet it proved only to be a temporary ceasefire, and hostility was renewed in the summer of 243. Carthage once again invaded Sardinia, as they had been doing for years now. They were fought off, and peace was restored the next year.

So Rome was now at peace with the entire world. Yet, the Senatores knew that nothing could last forever, so immediately another Third Legion was ordered to be drafted. In Italy alone two enemies had a presence. The Makedonians and the Koinon Hellenon, two rival Grecian factions, both had armies near Taras.

But for the moment the Second Legion was watching them, shadowing their every movement.

The Republic at 242BC

Italy


Many road construction programs have occurred since the founding of the Republic, and now this has been seen right up the mainland. To the south are the two opposing Greek armies, shadowed by the second legion. The newly recruited third legion is stationed outside Rome.

Sicily


Sicily at this time is in upheaval. The second legion is supposed to be guarding the island, yet they have been recalled to watch the far more important Makedonians and Greeks. Yet, they can not afford to be gone for too long; for fear that the island’s valuable grain and trade will be lost.

Corsica and Sardinia


Corsica and Sardinia are Roman in name only. The constant attempts at these people’s freedom from our rule have lead to them rising up against authority on an almost daily basis. As can be seen, some of the richer people have even called in pirates to attempt to halt our operations.

Iberia


The first legion watches over the lands of Iberia, though they would have little chance of repulsing any real invasion. Fortunately though, the prospects of such an invasion are slim at best, with the Carthaginians obsession for Sardinia.

The world according to the Romans


Things of interest include the Aedui having a massive upper hand against the Arverni. Makedon has expanded to their north, yet have not been capable of seizing the mainland of Greece. The Seleukid’s have kicked the Ptolemaic’s out of Asia Minor, whilst Syria remains heavily contested.

Meanwhile, in Rome

A young man ran into the Forum, crying out a message.

“The Makedonians have made a move! They are assaulting Taras! The cry to war has been issued and the legions shall have to answer it!”

And answer it, the third legion would.

[Dooz]

Oh man, that's the most awesome thing yet. A lot of cool A.I. stuff happening in your campaign here man. Maks and Greeks in Italy? What the hell? Nice uprisings going on in Sicily. Good report, I liked the style of showing different regions and a nice summary. Looking forward to the continuation.

[CountArach]

It will probably be a couple of days. I am spending the whole of tomorrow out paintballing.

[Boyar Son]

Why dont you create a fourth legion?

I dont see anyone guarding the northern border.

Well the name of the new character is

LVCIVS DECIVS VITELLIVS use that name so when ever you need a new character!

[CaesarAugustus]

Excellent entries so far! It looks like the third is going to spend most of its time cleaning up rebels, now. Maybe you could bribe some of them as auxiliaries. Is Scipio still going to lead the third or will they have a new general?

[CountArach]

Why dont you create a fourth legion?

They are on Sardinia. I am limiting myself to four legions for a while.

Maybe you could bribe some of them as auxiliaries. Is Scipio still going to lead the third or will they have a new general?

Hadn't thought of bribing them... hmmm, interesting idea.

I am afraid that Scipio has remained in Iberia to live out his days. Instead we will have his complete opposite politically. A Plebian :o

[Alexander the Adequate]

Very nice CA, i'll be following this mod awhile!

[CountArach]

Book 2 – Chapter 1 – First Actions
241 – Spring – The Consulship of Avlvs Manlivs Titvs Torqvatvs and Qvintvs Lvtativs Catvlvs Cerco

Dear Brother,

Well here I am - a part of the Roman Army. Pah! These Romans need good Samnite warriors like us to fight for them. They are utterly incapable of doing well for themselves!

As you know I have been called up by the Elders to form part of the Allied units for the Romans. For the Romans to even presume that I, the great grandson of one who gave his life for Samnite freedom, would ever ally with them! Pah! They are weak!

Yet, the Elders ordered it to be so, and so it must be done.

My regiment and I travelled north to Roma’s gates. One day our people will look down on those gates with triumph and plunder in their eye. We were met outside the walls by one Qvintvs Flavinvs Bradva. He is an old man, yet he is in touch with the people, something these Roman’s really lack.



So we camped to the north of the gates, protecting the city and awaiting orders. Then word arrived to us that the Makedonians to our East had declared war on the Romans. I for one could not have cared less. I was going to serve my people whether or not there was a war, yet these pathetic Romans were all whimpering and wondering what was to be done.

Well the decision was made for them fairly quickly.



Some of the Makedonians, a small contingent, had come down from the North of the Peninsula and were to lay siege to Rome. They had incited a popular revolution amongst the lower classes here, who were understandably eagre to throw off the chains of their oppressors.

I must admit that I was tempted to join them. I mean, who wouldn’t be. Yet in my heart I knew that I would be failing my countrymen.

We started by marching towards the Makedonians, probably the greatest threat of the two, yet they cowardly retreated, leaving the fighting to the revolutionaries.



So we deployed in battle formation and set out to battle.



My regiment, it must be noted, has lower quality weapons than these other Samnites who were with us, which is understandable because the other regiment is comprised mainly of our noblemen.

So anyway, we deployed in the standard Roman formation, with us guarding the Right flank, with these Rorarii in reserve. As if we need Romans to defend us! To our right was Qvintvs himself, watching over our actions.



The standard exchange of missiles occurred, the levies killing many of the enemy, yet not taking enough missiles so that tough warriors like us Samnites could all make it to the front.



Eventually though we reached the enemy line.

And charged.



I killed many men in this fight brother. It was all the better knowing that I was killing the ones who had reduced us to nothing more than a client state.

The stories that father used to tell us are all true, brother. The sweat, the noise, the exhaustion. It is all true. It is dangerous in there brother, and I almost went to join father more than once.



Eventually we managed to break their entire line. They fled like the cowardly Romans they are. Our cavalry pursued them until their right arms were sore and they were unable to kill any more.



So now we had dealt with the Roman’s main problem - The Romans.

We advanced back towards the Makedonians, an equally cowardly people, and we managed to bring them to battle. They had little more than a handful of hoplites. How could the Roman’s be scared of such a small force? They are cowards.



So we deployed as normal, and as we advanced, we let out loud cheers and clashed our weapons with our shields, inviting fear into our enemy’s hearts.



We eventually got close enough to them that they broke ranks and charged. Their spears were razor sharp, yet they were never going to be a match for good Samnite steel.



We managed to win the battle with only a handful of losses. I have learnt much of war these last few months, brother, and I know that I will continue to serve my people, even if it is whilst under the Roman yoke.





Your brother in honour,
Vibivs Postvmivs

[Dooz]

Awesome, Samnite angle. Oh those Makies, what were they thinking?

[CountArach]

Yeah I think a Samnite Angle should give this a real uniqueness about it. I haven't read another AAr with it.

And yeah... stupid Maks... though it gets much more interesting next turn...

[antisocialmunky]

Dear god, the one thing I despise about BI are these weird little stacks of allies that move into your land and sit there or besiege something and then die and then they ask for a ceasefire and do it again. I have half a mind to block all the alpine passes with masses of forts!!!

Nice checkerboard formation BTW.

[Warmaster Horus]

Great as usual! Like the idea of an allied warrior as the main character.

[shlin28]

I wonder where those rebel velites came from...

[Boyar Son]

Cool!

But his problem with the Romans is getting to me... no freind of Rome is no freind of mine.

[CaesarAugustus]

Great new installment! I really like the idea of the story being told from the perspective of a Samnite ally. It will be interesting to see where his loyalties lie if Samnite rebels spring up.

For those of you readers who are interested in pre-Roman Italic peoples, I recommend the mod-in-development Paeninsula Italica - Radices Imperii, which recreates Italy around the Fourth and Third centuries BC. The Samnites are among the factions that you can play as in the struggle to control Italy.

Sorry EB people for advertising another mod on your forum..

[CountArach]

@ Antisocialmunky - Yeah it is incredibly annoying, but the improved Ai and the naval invasions are worth it.

@ Warmaster Horus - Thanks! Great to hear!

@ shlin28 - Beats me... stupid Romans...

@ K COSSACK - lol, I was wondering who would be the first to say this.

@ CaesarAugustus - I hope to not find out... Also I have looked at that mod and it looks really promising, I will definitely try that.