Kingdom By The Sea - A Pontos AAR

[Orb]

I've tried my hand at writing every other kind of way, and this time I feel like writing a play instead.

So, I'm going to do a Pontos AAR, written in the form of a play, with heavy emphasis on Celtic religion, as I'm reading a book about that at the moment.

[Orb]

Kingdom by the Sea

A Pontos AAR
RTW 1.5, EB 0.81, VH/M, manage all settlements

'Dark Orchid' = Pontos
'Royal Blue' = Armenia
'Dim Grey' = Rebel (Sinope in the first scenes)
'Dark Red' = Makedon
'Dark Orange' = Koinon Hellenon
'Silver' = Seleucid

Opening:

There is a black background to a solitary figure (Ktistes Mithridates, basileus sitting in a chair, facing away from the audience. This chair has the emblem of Pontos on the back. The curtain is pulled back on both sides, to reveal thee other dignitaries, sitting in a semicircle of chairs facing the audience and surrounding Ktistes. Two enormous Seleucid banners fall from the roof to the floor. The men in the chairs are Antiochos of Seleucia, Antigonos of Makedonia and Yervand of Armenia

Ktistes: King of Antioch, why do you fear a little kingdom by the sea?
Antiochos: Because it was not established legitimately. You have no right to be there!
Ktistes: Our subjects seem to think we do.
Antiochos: My armies seem to think you don't.
Ktistes: So what gives you the right to be here? To dictate terms to us?
Antiochos: Force of arms, and the tradition of Alexander.
Ktistes: Yes, your dead butcher.
Antigonos stands up: How dare you?!
Ktistes: How dared he? Thebai?
Antigonos still stands, visibly furious.
Antiochos: I will not have a Persian king in Greek lands!
Ktistes: Damn you, half-breed.
Yervand stands up and physically prevents Antiochos from attacking Ktistes.
Yervand: It would look bad to strike a man older than you, King of Kings.
Antiochos: Listen, Ktistes, if you do not cooperate with us, I will bury your dynasty and your subjects in your ocean, understood?
Ktistes (bitterly): Yes, King of Antioch.
Antigonos: You don't belong there, Persian, get out while you can.
Antiochos: I want proof. Proof that you can change, that you can govern for us, that you can obey!
Ktistes: I hear the 'Alliance of Greeks' supports the cities of Sinope and Trapezous. You oppose these, don't you?
Antigonos: What of it?
Ktistes: My son will take these cities from the Greeks. The Koinon will lose prestige for failing to defend them.
Antiochos nods, and looks at the others: what do you think Antigonos? Worth it to let him be?
Antigonos: I'm warming to him. His Kingdom stays.
Yervand: Give the Haikh time to gather and...
Antiochos: You may arrive after the Koinon is defeated. Silk is a luxury we have. Time is not. He stays.
Yervand (bitterly): Yes, King of Kings.
Drums begin playing, regular rhythm of single beats.
Antiochos: Establish with iron your kingdom, Persian, or I will shatter it.

The curtain is drawn back in. The scene changes to the battle of Sinope in Autumn 272.
A set of gates is displayed at the back of the stage, the audience looking as if inside the city. The drums continue, several men are dead already, with javelins and slingshot everywhere. Twenty or so men, garbed as hoplites, skirmishers and peltasts, surround a leaning section in the 'wall'. The wall collapses, smoke comes up and pikes emerge slowly from the smoke. The lights go off completely, shouting of battle ensues. After a short clash, the shout of 'retreat' is heard. A curtain falls to obscure the wall. A group of about twenty Hoplites is thus making a stand in front of a couple of buildings. Men armed as Native Phalangites with axes surge on as the lights are turned on again. There are bodies everywhere.

Aigicoros, king of Sinope: Hold! Hold!
The hoplites batter back a number of phalangites
Ariobarzanes, entering with two bodyguards, carrying spears and wearing traditional persian armour: Your brothers, the Rhodioi, the Athenaioi, they have deserted you. Join us. We can defend our subjects, with us, you can resist invaders.
Aigicoros: I won't accept some upstart Persian as a master, even if the Greeks won't take me as a friend!
He runs forward at the three Persians, the native phalanxes move forwards to block his men.
Ariobarzanes nods: Gyges.
Gyges, one of the bodyguards, throws a spear, which hits Aigicoros in the shoulder, one of the hoplites drags him backwards and smoke obscures the view. The stage rotates again to show the inside of a house, with two hoplites holding the door and Aigicoros standing, bleeding badly. the fighting can still be seen outside the house, and the other hoplites are quite clearly dead, except for two being pushed back in the fight.
Aigicoros: reinforce the door! Call for the rest of our men. We must have two hundred at least to bring here.
One of the hoplites sounds a horn, and fresh akontistai and levy hoplites appear from offstage to combat the axemen. Three axemen reach the door and hammer on it. One hoplite presses his shield against it, the other drops his spear and pulls out a long knife of Persian design. This hoplite steps up to the unshielded Aigicoros and bashes Aigicoros' hand with his shield, raising the knife. Aigicoros drops his weapon in pain. The other hoplite turns:
Other hoplite: Bastard!
This hoplite turns and goes for the assassin, but the Pontic soldiers force the door open, and one of them steps up and strikes this hoplite to the ground. The assassin stabs Aigicoros as the axe-wielding men hack at the hoplite.

The smoke rises again over the entire stage, and when it clears partially, it has been rotated back, and only Pontic soldiers and the assassin are standing.

Ariobarzanes(to assassin): Well done. I knew having you here would pay off sometime. Go ahead to Trapezous after a week or two's rest, find out what's there. Oh yes, and your pay.
He throws a bag of coins to the assassin.

[Orb]

Update: actually, reading through this, it's too confusing. I think I'll switch back to standard storytelling.

[Justiciar]

Good idea, and pretty well executed. Though if you think a standard format would be better, go for it. Either way, any AAR is a good AAR.

[Ludens]

Update: actually, reading through this, it's too confusing. I think I'll switch back to standard storytelling.

Actually, I rather like it.

[Gazius]

I'd suggest differentiating the names and text of each person, but I rather like the format as well. A bold name and faction color for each man?

[Orb]

Suggestions taken on board, a monologue coming up.

Edit: I'm going to basically restart the campaign, because I didn't delete the map.rwm first.
There shouldn't be any need to change the description, and it's only four turns.

[Ower]

I like the stile, but would give the seleucid a beter colour, this one is not seable enough

[Cataphract_Of_The_City]

Pretty good!