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Winter, 248 BC
Halikarnassos
A letter to Alkyoneus Gonatas, King of Makedonia
Dearest King and Father:
I have heard that you successfully captured Amaseia from the Pontics. I am certain your victory there was as glorious as your many other conquests. Your tactical skill surely rivals that of Alexandros himself!
I have been governing our recent acquisitions in the East from Halikarnassos. It is a fine city, and has served as an excellent capital for our holdings in Asia. Thus far matters of administration have run smoothly; we have started the construction of several new mines, as well as improved barracks that should reduce our reliance on reinforcements from the homeland.
Still, Father, I hope that you will return quickly. My talent for administration cannot compare to yours, and surely we would benefit from your brilliant generalship. The wretched Ptolmaioi have betrayed our alliance and now besiege Rhodos with a small force, and I fear that the local governor may not hold the city with the limited garrison forces and his own lack of experience. Also, I have heard that Side has been besieged by a substantial Seleukid force. At the moment we lack the soldiers to counterattack - so we must pray that the gods grant the garrison victory, should the Seleukids attempt to storm the town.
I am sure that my worries are all for naught. Our brave Makedonians can hold against those pretenders, the false "heirs" of Alexandros. They will soon know who his true heirs are.
As a quick addendum to this letter, I sent that Euboian wine you mentioned earlier along with the courier. I only hope that he does not decide to sample any...
Your son,
Ikaros
The Kingdom of Makedonia and its holdings, 248 BC
Autumn, 247 BC
Rhodos
Euetes Echinaieus had little appreciation for battle. It was quite a nuisance, really; he had never seen the point of it. It took far too much time away from the important things in life, like trade, money, wine, more money, and of course, acquaintances of the opposite gender.
However, Euetes could not abide the irritation of being besieged any longer. It cut far too deeply into the profits from trade, and if there was anything Euetes despised, it was any interruption of trade. First the foolish heir to the Pharao had surrounded Rhodos with a pitifully small army; Euetes had exaggerated its size when he reported it to that administratively inept buffoon Ikaros in the hope that he would send a large force to destroy the army and spare Euetes the trouble. Instead, the prince had done nothing, allowing the siege to continue nearly another year. Then, not three months ago, a large contingent of Galatikoi mercenaries, in service of the Seleukids, fought off the Ptolmaic forces - and promptly besieged Rhodos themselves.
This force prompted Prince Ikaros to take action, at least - but he sent only a small force of peltastai and Cretan toxotai to break the siege. Euetes would have to actually fight in the upcoming battle, something which annoyed the man greatly.
Euetes arrayed his forces in a rough approximation of the standard Makedonian battle line, with phalangitai in the center and his more mobile troops on the flanks. After a fairly long march (which only served to irritate Euetes further) the opposing armies' lines at last collided.
Phalangitai hold their ground against Galatian spears
The battle raged on, and the Makedonian lines held steady - excepting the cowardly levy hoplitai on the left flank, who nearly broke. They might well have routed had Euetes failed to take action. Euetes, though entirely inexperienced as a strategos, had a sufficient understanding of Makedonian tactics to realize the value of flanking maneuvers; he ordered the reinforcement peltastai to attack the enemy flanks, and personally charged the rear of the Seleukid battle line.
An unlucky Seleukid meets his sharp, pointy fate
The Galatians and thureophoroi broke, and Euetes gave chase, cutting down many of the routing Seleukids.
Euetes, satisfied that this Seleukid annoyance was gone, returned to Rhodos, eagerly awaiting the opening of the new trade harbor next season...
Next: Will the Seleukids recapture Side? Will the Pharao's son and his starving army ever leave Rhodos? Has Alkyoneus, in fact, conquered Amaseia? Has he recovered from the embarrassment of deploying his forces backwards? Will he return to Halikarnassos? And, perhaps most importantly, did the courier steal all of his Euboian wine?
~~~~~
Thanks for the comments; I'm glad that someone finds my silly ramblings amusing.
Deadmeat: nice caption. I do like the random left-handed sword-wielding pezhetairoi in that picture.
Halikarnassos
A letter to Alkyoneus Gonatas, King of Makedonia
Dearest King and Father:
I have heard that you successfully captured Amaseia from the Pontics. I am certain your victory there was as glorious as your many other conquests. Your tactical skill surely rivals that of Alexandros himself!
I have been governing our recent acquisitions in the East from Halikarnassos. It is a fine city, and has served as an excellent capital for our holdings in Asia. Thus far matters of administration have run smoothly; we have started the construction of several new mines, as well as improved barracks that should reduce our reliance on reinforcements from the homeland.
Still, Father, I hope that you will return quickly. My talent for administration cannot compare to yours, and surely we would benefit from your brilliant generalship. The wretched Ptolmaioi have betrayed our alliance and now besiege Rhodos with a small force, and I fear that the local governor may not hold the city with the limited garrison forces and his own lack of experience. Also, I have heard that Side has been besieged by a substantial Seleukid force. At the moment we lack the soldiers to counterattack - so we must pray that the gods grant the garrison victory, should the Seleukids attempt to storm the town.
I am sure that my worries are all for naught. Our brave Makedonians can hold against those pretenders, the false "heirs" of Alexandros. They will soon know who his true heirs are.
As a quick addendum to this letter, I sent that Euboian wine you mentioned earlier along with the courier. I only hope that he does not decide to sample any...
Your son,
Ikaros
The Kingdom of Makedonia and its holdings, 248 BC
Autumn, 247 BC
Rhodos
Euetes Echinaieus had little appreciation for battle. It was quite a nuisance, really; he had never seen the point of it. It took far too much time away from the important things in life, like trade, money, wine, more money, and of course, acquaintances of the opposite gender.
However, Euetes could not abide the irritation of being besieged any longer. It cut far too deeply into the profits from trade, and if there was anything Euetes despised, it was any interruption of trade. First the foolish heir to the Pharao had surrounded Rhodos with a pitifully small army; Euetes had exaggerated its size when he reported it to that administratively inept buffoon Ikaros in the hope that he would send a large force to destroy the army and spare Euetes the trouble. Instead, the prince had done nothing, allowing the siege to continue nearly another year. Then, not three months ago, a large contingent of Galatikoi mercenaries, in service of the Seleukids, fought off the Ptolmaic forces - and promptly besieged Rhodos themselves.
This force prompted Prince Ikaros to take action, at least - but he sent only a small force of peltastai and Cretan toxotai to break the siege. Euetes would have to actually fight in the upcoming battle, something which annoyed the man greatly.
Euetes arrayed his forces in a rough approximation of the standard Makedonian battle line, with phalangitai in the center and his more mobile troops on the flanks. After a fairly long march (which only served to irritate Euetes further) the opposing armies' lines at last collided.
Phalangitai hold their ground against Galatian spears
The battle raged on, and the Makedonian lines held steady - excepting the cowardly levy hoplitai on the left flank, who nearly broke. They might well have routed had Euetes failed to take action. Euetes, though entirely inexperienced as a strategos, had a sufficient understanding of Makedonian tactics to realize the value of flanking maneuvers; he ordered the reinforcement peltastai to attack the enemy flanks, and personally charged the rear of the Seleukid battle line.
An unlucky Seleukid meets his sharp, pointy fate
The Galatians and thureophoroi broke, and Euetes gave chase, cutting down many of the routing Seleukids.
Euetes, satisfied that this Seleukid annoyance was gone, returned to Rhodos, eagerly awaiting the opening of the new trade harbor next season...
Next: Will the Seleukids recapture Side? Will the Pharao's son and his starving army ever leave Rhodos? Has Alkyoneus, in fact, conquered Amaseia? Has he recovered from the embarrassment of deploying his forces backwards? Will he return to Halikarnassos? And, perhaps most importantly, did the courier steal all of his Euboian wine?
~~~~~
Thanks for the comments; I'm glad that someone finds my silly ramblings amusing.
Deadmeat: nice caption. I do like the random left-handed sword-wielding pezhetairoi in that picture.
Originally Posted by bdac:
Deadmeat: nice caption. I do like the random left-handed sword-wielding pezhetairoi in that picture.
I find it funny but if it took away from your aar sorry Deadmeat: nice caption. I do like the random left-handed sword-wielding pezhetairoi in that picture.
i am rarely interested in AAR's but this one is very fun to read. it is straight forward[i think some story's are too adjective ridden] but it isn't a recap of the happenings of your little EB world. the title is nice and the little spurts of humor
"Has he recovered from the embarrassment of deploying his forces backwards? Will he return to Halikarnassos? And, perhaps most importantly, did the courier steal all of his Euboian wine?"
are really funny.
keep it up!
"Has he recovered from the embarrassment of deploying his forces backwards? Will he return to Halikarnassos? And, perhaps most importantly, did the courier steal all of his Euboian wine?"
are really funny.
keep it up!
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