Wolves of Zalmoxis (Getai AAR)

[Laevex]

Welcome to my very first AAR. I hope you will enjoy it.

INFORMATION:
The mod used is Europa Barbarorum 0.81a played with BI.exe.
It was played on Medium/Medium difficulty (I play games to relax and enjoy myself, not to cause stress. However, I am working my way up the difficulties methodically so one day I might be able to handle a very hard campaign).
It was played with fog of war off. I know it's realistic to have it but it just annoys me not being able to see what other factions are doing. I think that it adds another point of interest for readers as well to see how the AI is expanding.
I will post chunks of AAR up at a time, not all at once but not every turn.

RULES:
1. No refighting battles.
2. No more than 50% mercenaries in an army.
3. Act roughly in line with characters' personalities.
4. Fairly slow expansion.
5. Justify all attacks.

The narrator of this story is Dudyx per Histria, son of Tarsa. He is an esteemed strategist, historian and friend of the Basileus. This is his story - a history of Getic courage commisioned by the Basileus himself to make the greatness of the Getai known to all.

CONTENTS:
Chapter 1: Soft in his old age?
Chapter 2: Insult to Injury
Chapter 3: The Prophet's Blessing
Chapter 4: Unification of the Thraikai
Chapter 5: The Cowardice of Epeiros

[Laevex]

Chapter 1: Soft in his old age?

In the spring of 272BC the Getai were ruled by the great warrior Zalmodegikos per Buridava. The nation of Getia was small and surrounded by other tribes, each of which posed a potential threat to the kingdom. Getic military might had kept its borders safe for years now, but in such conditions expansion of the kingdom would have been a major task that could backfire and result in its destruction.



Zalmodegikos was now 60 years old and was beginning to tire of war, despite the fact that his cammanding skills were second to none of his generals.

Scuffling for defence of the nation had grown tiresome for him and he saw it as futile at his respectable age. He saw the wealth of his northern cousins in Sarmiszegethusa and decided that the Getai deserved to be well off. Economic and diplomatic matters became the focus of Zalmodegikos's rule from this point.

Zalmodegikos's adopted son Oroles was a young and bloodthirsty general, at the time camped with an army to the north of Getia. He had proved himself to have much skill in battle against the Skythai and was eager for more victories to repel them and further Getic renown. However, Zalmodegikos had other plans. Seeing most of the country's money being drained by its many men of arms, he planned to disband Oroles' army, along with most of the nation's warbands. The young warlord was recalled to the capital and his men were mostly given back their civilian lives. Their swords were laid down... for the moment. The Skythai were given a ceasefire officially, which was welcomed because their warriors were needed to fight weaker enemies than the courageous Getai.

To the south of the nation lay Makedonia, enemies of Getia. However, between Getia and the sons of Alexandros lay the Dardanoi and Odrysai. These tribes were home to formidable warriors, particularly the men of Tylis and so the Basileus decided this war was of no real use. Peace between the Makedonai and the Getai was negotiated, but only while the other two tribes were granted safety from the proud hellennes. This would soon become irrelevant however, as the Basileus of Epeiros would soon overrun the northern lands of Makedonia.



By the autumn of 272BC, the Basileus' economic aims were taking effect on the land. Roads had been completed, linking the villages to the whole of Getia and its neighbours and allowing wealth to flow through the nation. Much of the population was uncomfortable with the lack of war and its spoils though. This feeling did not turn into discontent however, as Zalmodegikos was dearly loved for his service to glorify Getia. The warriors' loyalty was soon rewarded, as their king ordered an attack on the pitiful Triballi to the south in order to boost the nation's funds.



In the harsh winter that year, the strong men of Getia attacked the Triballi. The day was bitterly cold, but the Getic warriors did not care, being strong of heart and body. Diales, the enemy king was known as a clever commander, but the brave Dizo per Rekidava did not fear the army that outnumbered his own.

After the Getic forces had advanced, Diales made the foolhardy mistake of charging head-on into the brave Getic warriors, resulting in his ridiculous death at the hands of our spears.



The warriors of our country fought hard, slaying many of the Triballi, but the enemy wore thick hellenic armour and were defending with courage. When Dizo fell to his demise the brave Drapanai made a frenzied last charge on the well armed and armoured Thraikoi, but eventually realised their lives were best put to use in a battle they could win.



The Triballi had successfully defended their homes from Getic wrath through their expensive equipment, but at a great loss to both sides. The Getic army was slaughtered the next day in one last stand at the border between the two lands. With its army dishonoured and obliterated, Zamlodegikos became stirred to hatred for the Triballi.

The country was beginning to feel wealth through its new enterprises, but the Triballi needed to be crushed soon to teach them who the greatest warriors really were.



In the spring of 270BC the Basileus of the Getai led a newly-mustered army of courageous men against the weak Triballi in revenge. What ensued on that day was no battle however. The Triballi were slaughtered until only 400 remained.

Zalmodegikos' army set alight the entire town of Naissos and pillaged all that could be found before leaving it, a smouldering symbol of what happens to those who spill Getic blood.

[alatar]

Very good!

[Laevex]

Chapter 2: Insult to Injury

In 269BC, with Getic coffers still in a dire state, poverty was causing the population to regain its bloodlust. Oroles, the famous warmonger and second adopted son of Zamlodegikos begged the Basileus for another battle in order to fulfil his and the public's desire for war.



Zalmodegikos granted Oroles permission to attack Olbia and raise money for the state and in the spring of 268BC the brutal warlord lead the wolves of Getia against Sinis, the great hellenic strategist of the southern Skythai.



The Getic men fought with honour, spilling a sea of hellenic blood and winning a great victory for their country. One man in particular earned great renown. His name was Kezloxi and he was the first of the wolves to breach the walls of Kallatis. He burst through with the rage of a great beast as soon as the wall fell, his blade singing as it sliced through the necks of 3 defenders. Their heads hit the ground before the men of Kallatis even knew the wall had fallen.



Kezloxi went on to kill over 50 of the enemy that day, even knocking Amnexos - the leiutenant of Sinis - off his horse with a javellin thrown from a great distance. This was a great blow to the morale of the Crobizii forces and was one of the events that caused the fearless wolves of Getia to triumph on that day. Oroles awarded Kezloxi with a jewel-encrusted and and highly decorated falx for his extreme bravery once the battle was over.

Olbia fell to Oroles' wolves and the town was plundered and laid to ruin. The general then ordered the inhabitants - other Getic people - to be exterminated, bringing much shame upon his head and earning a reputation as a heartless psychopath.



Oroles defended himself with his purist ideas that only those from Getia proper should be considered of the same blood as the Basileus and that he would cull the population of every town that refused to accept Getic rule if he got the chance. Some of the people of the nation admired the ruthless prince for these beliefs but many Getai had lost distant family or friends in the extermination of the town and so he was not hailed as a hero.

By 266BC, it became apparent that Zalmodegikos' peaceful ideas were not efficiently providing his kingdom with enough cash and poverty became rife as the country's money was exhausted paying its armies. Tribes surrounding the Getic lands sniggered behind their walls at the ironic fact that the Basileus of the Getai was causing more war through his 'peaceful' ideals than when he was a true warlord.

Tauronos, king of the Scordiscii ridiculed Zalmodegikos publicly, drawing attention to the punitive size of the so-called 'wolves of Zalmoxis' and predicting that the Getic people would tremble if the surrounding tribes formed an alliance against them. The victims of the last two Getic raids were thirsty for revenge and so Tauronos gained much popular support. Infuriated by this insult and in dire need of more funds, Zalmodegikos let Oroles lead an army in the third raid in the last 6 years on a nearby tribe. This time it was the Scordiscii, who's army were more hellenized than that of the Getai. They proudly charged out of their town's walls to meet the fearsome Getic host as soon as the army arrived.



Although the army of Singidunum was well commanded and equipped to a far more expensive hellenic standard, the brave men under the command of Oroles managed to win a glorious victory through brave fighting and deadly strategic manouvres.



The town was plundered and destroyed in the same merciless manner as before, which had by this time become a trademark of Zalmodegikos' heir. The head of Tauronos was impaled on Oroles spear and he personally rode to each of the defiant tribes with it held high in the air and told them that any who faced the mighty Getai would face the same fate.

The prospects of an alliance against Zalmodegikos and his violent prince were quelled, the latest show of force working in the Getai's favour by scaring the surrounding tribes into submission. But this peace, like times of peace, was not to last.

Once fear of the Getai had died down - almost a year after the last battle - trouble began to brew in the east once more. The remaining population of Singidunum were left leaderless and bitter and begged the king of the warlike Avernii to come to their aid. The Scordiscii gave the Avernii king power over their province, hoping that the Gallic warriors from the west would come and get revenge on the victorious Getai.



Getia now had an enemy in these Gauls, who could prove a major threat to the land.

[Zalmoxis]

Not bad, but I do feel like I'm being ignored a little here.

[deadmeat36]

I like how you mention one specific warrior during the battle even though it was some random soldier. Gives it more life

[Zim]

Not bad, but I do feel like I'm being ignored a little here.

Generally far more people read an aar thread than respond in one. I liked the way you roleplayed the early attacks on rebel settlements. I always have trouble thinking of them as more than "rebels", so they only got a sentence or two in my aar.

[Vred var VingTor]

Arrrg, now I am never going too see fulfillment of the Getaian Empire This forum should have a rule about prematurely ending good AARs.

[Laevex]

Don't worry, when I get bored of poncy hellenic factions I will forge a Getic Empire. I'm really sorry to disappoint any readers, I didn't think I had many anyway.

[paullus]

Wow, I totally missed this AAR. Some really nice elements to it, Laevex! If you don't continue this one, then I'll be looking out for more from you in the future.

[deadmeat36]

All the good barbarian AAR get stop prematuraly

[Laevex]

Some good news! I will soon achieve the victory conditions in my current 1.0 Getic campaign and I'm hoping to be writing a post-VC AAR following the exploits of the Arche Getia in all its might! So if you enjoyed this patheticly abortive AAR then you could be in for a treat. Plus my writing will be better I hope, as I'm now reading a BA English Literature at Sheffield University (which involves a lot of reading and writing as one might imagine!)