The Antigonids : A Makedonian AAR

[Wolfman]

I agree with Hax. Give those Romani Traitors no Quarter!! Excellent Update MAA. So Demetrios is finally dead. what plans do you have for the Arche now?

[Perturabo]

I usually just lurk and read the AAR's, but had to say this is brilliant! Really good writing and one of my favourite factions The last battle against the Romans was indeed epic. Nice to see the Romans training Roman troops for a change.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Again, thanks to everyone who is commenting...
I've been busy lately and the next chapter has stalled half way. Right now, I'm defragmenting that computer and it has been at it for about 16 hours...

Your computer melted as well, Mordrorru?

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

I've been busy lately and the next chapter has stalled half way. Right now, I'm defragmenting that computer and it has been at it for about 16 hours...

I hope you don't use the windows-default-defrag, because you could have that running for three days without coming even near to an end.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 31 : Loose Ends on the Western Front
The Romani War (Part IX)

Returning from being crowned Basileus of Arche Makedonia, Aristotelis sets up once more in Syria. Antiocheia, the capital of the region had been named for Antiochos of the Arche Seleukeia. With the decline of Arche Seleukeia, it is beginning to seem as though Seleukos, Antiochos, and their dynasty will become just historical footnote, hardly worth mention. Seeing as they are unworthy of such a great city, in a foreign nation, with their name, Aristotelis decides to rename the city. He chooses to renames the city after the man who liberated it years earlier and built it up to its present state. With orders from Aristotelis, the capital of Syria is renamed and refounded as the city Demetreia.

In Gaul, Neokles, son of Aristotelis and heir to the throne, besieges the city of Tolosa, where the last Romani in Gaul hide:


The phalangitai hold their ground while the Basilikon Agema move forward to break down the walls:


The gate is easily broken and the Hypaspitai rush in to meet the Hellenes defending the walls:


After breaking another hole through the wall, the rest of the Basilikon Agema rush in and surround the Hellenes:


The Hellenes quickly fall and Makedones assume control of the city. Hiding near the palace, however, the Romani defenders refuse to surrender. Slowly marching the phalangitai into the town, Neokles takes his time and prepares to attack the city center from multiple sides. As the phalangitai possition themselves to assualt the Romani, the Romani general gives one final charge and attacks the Pezhetairoi:


The Romani get bogged down and the Neokles has enough time to move his men to surround them. Attacking from the rear, the Basilikon Agema finish off the last of them:


With that, Neokles takes the Gallic city of Tolosa and the Romani port of Narbo, as well as deprive the Romani of their last foreign territory:


Gathering locals for questioning, Neokles learns that the Gallic people of the region, known as the Nektosages, had participated in the Gallic raid of Makedonia and Hellas. Afterwards they had gathered treasures and brought them home with them, where some of that treasure had been hidden at the bottom of a lake. Years later, the mercenaries of Pyrrhos of Epieros had also come to this region. They too had hidden gold in the lake, and amoungst that gold was the treasures they had looted from the tombs at Aigai. Neokles quickly makes plans to excavate a canal to empty the lake.

With the fall of the Romani in Gaul, and with a great Makedonike army in the vicinity, the Hellenic trade city of Emporion leaves the Iberian confederation and joins the Arche Makedonia. [I paid 14000 for it.] With new territories in southern Gaul and northern Iberia, Neokles considers whether to pull out of the area as he had planned or to take this chance to open a new front with Kart-Hadast. For now, the regions are not consider part of the Arche.

Pyrrhos of Makedonia, still stricken with sadness, has yet to besiege the ill defended city of Arpi. With is delay, the Romani gather another small legion and attack once more. This time the Romani devide their forces and attack from all sides:


Placing his phalangitai along a road to counter the bulk of the Romani forces, Pyrrhos has his Illyrian cavalry move to counter those attacking from th rear:


Purposly allowing his left flank to look weak, Pyrrhos hides his Samnites and Gauls just over a hill to suprise anyone who takes the bait of the weak flank:


The Illyrians repeatingly charge the Romani approaching from the rear, but the Romani hold their ground. The Romani stand no chance of success against the Illyrians, but they stall the cavalry long enough for the other Romani to engage the Makedonike army without having to worry about cavalry support:


On the left flank, the Romani take the bait and attack. Quickly, the Samnites and Gauls counter:


One group of Romani attack the flank, but the main forces of the Romani attack the center of the line:


After finally defeating the Romani to the rear, the Illyrians rush in and releave the left flank. With the left flank secured, the main battle line moves to surround the Roman Consul:


The Illyrians chase the fleeing Romani, but the Samnites and Gauls are forced to confront those Romani which manage to regroup:


The Makedonike Pezhetairoi manage to completely surround Consul Titus Cornelius Scipio, but he opts to avoid conflict and stands his cavalry in the center of the square. The Pezhetairoi hold their ground, but one officer moves forward to challenge the Roman Consul:

[The Consul died seconds after I took this picture.]

The Makedonike officer somehow manages to kill the Consul and as he falls to the ground the entire Makedonike army charges in to eliminate the last of his bodyguards:


Some of the Romani flee to Capua, but most fall dead. With the victory, Pyrrhos takes the city of Arpi:


The goal of Arche Makedonia, since the time of Alkyoneus, has been to establish a northern border along the Istros [River Danube]. Alkyoneus and Perseus had negotiated for much of the territory and Nepos had conquered Pannonia. Now, Herakontides, cousin to Pyrrhos, leads the attack along the Istros. Having conquered the fortress of Iuvavoaeta years earlier, Herakontides heads west to take the fort-city of Veldideno, near the source of the Istros. With the conquest of this region, Arche Makedonia will control all territories south of the Istros, from its source to the Pontos Euxinos.

With an army of local Celtic mercenaries, Herakontides attacks the city quickly, before reinforcements can arrived from their allies, the Boii:


With a bribe to some locals, the gates are left open. Charging in, the mercenaries attack the local garrison troops, who had been taught to fight in the Makedonike style:


The defenders manage to push the bulk of the mercenary force back to the gate, but it is too late, as they are already surrounded. The men attacking from behind them wear them down and they break:


Taking the walls, the mercenaries march on the city center. On their way in, they are confronted by the defending cavalry and garrison captain:


Defending the rear, Herakontides' mercenary Celtic phalangitai are confronted by a unit of defending phalangitai:


The defenders are more experienced and have the upper hand, but when attacked from two sides the defenders loose their advantage:


As the phalangitai wipe out the forces attacking the rear, the bulk of the mercenary force fights off the last wave of enemies before the city center:


The mercenaries line up and rest just out of the range of those in the city center. They hardly get any rest, though, as the defender charge out to confront them. The mercenaries throw their remaining javelin and brace for the fight:


Many of Herakontides' mercenaries fall, but their sheer numbers ensure victory. As the fight continues, they start to surround the defending axemen:


Soon all that remains is one group of defending phalangitai. Charging in from all sides, the mercenaries attack:


The phalangitai hold their ground and suffer very few losses until Herakontides orders a cavalry charge from the rear:


Finally, the defenders succome to the Makedonike mercenaries and the city falls:


The city of Veldideno marks the western most point of Makedonike territory and Herakonties quickly establishes defensive forts along the river and western edge to discourage Gallic incursion. Now, from the source of the Istros south then following the mountain ridge to the sea, with the inclusion of Massalia, marks the edge of Arche Makedonia's western border. Now, all that remains is seccuring Italia and dealing with the Kart-Hadast problem to ensure a peaceful western front.

After securring all of the eastern coast of Italia, Pyrrhos moves his army westward to besiege the city of Capua and defeat the last of the Italian allies of Roma:


The known world in 202BC, a decade into the Romani War:


Next: Chapter 32 : The World's Wars

[Mordrorru]

Yes, my computer melted too.

Sorta, I got a nv4_disp error and some device is quote, 'stuck in an infinite loop'. The screen is really staticy and blocky. The static is so bad I can barely see. Also things that look disturbingly like smiley faces show up when I DO turn the computer on...though this definately seems more like a hardware problem and than a virus. Probably something with my video card.

Overall the thing's unusable, and it'll be a few days before someone can get here and fix it. If they CAN fix it.

[Basileus Seleukeia]

Wow, another great chapter.
Although I'm quite angered about a specific decision of yours (I think you can guess why)

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks.

I've gotten the next chapter ready, but I have caught up to where I last played. Since I haven't had a bunch of time to play recently, there may be a short break after this chapter...

[Hooahguy]

and when will this chapter be?......

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 32 : The World's Wars
The Romani War (Part X)

For years the Arche Makedonia had suffered one major weakness in its military. The Antigonid military was basically the same military system that Philipos and Alexandros had used more than a hundred years prior. The near by Celts and Galatians use heavy mailed infantry who are trained to throw javelin before charging. The Seleukids, Ptolemaioi, and even the Kingdom of Pontos had adapted this equiptment and fighting style in the form of the Thorakitai. Over the years of the Aigyptos Wars, the Thorakitai, in the hands of the Ptolemaioi, had evolved from flank guard into a heavy line infantry. Demetrios was hesitant to change, but realized the advantages of the mailed infantry. Merging the equiptment with Makedonike fighting styles, Demetrios re-equiped the Pezhetairoi. The newly equiped Pezhetairoi were proving successful, but the Romani War proved it was not enough.

Even with the new equiptment, Pyrrhos has suffered far more losses then he should have due to the Romani fighting style. The non-pike heavy infantry line is proving to be more manuvuerable and more successful than expected. Aristotelis knew about this weakness, for he had also suffered against the Ptolemaic Thorakitai and their Galatians mercenaries. His father had been reluctant to change, but Basileus Aristotelis is more willing to learn and adapt. Adopting a new form of unit and fighting style, Aristotelis orders some of his men to be equiped and trained in the Diadochi Thorakitai style:


With mail armor, a spear, and several javelin, the Makedonike Thorakitai are trained across the Arche Makedonia to replace the Thureophoroi, Thrakians, and allies currently guarding the flanks of the Makedonike Pezhetairoi:


In Demetreia, a new army is trained, completely in the new style of fighting and equipment:


With a new Basileus, newly acquired peace in the west, a new military system, and finally recovering from the war debt, Arche Makedonia is once again the undisputed lead power in all of the known world:


With a general sense of peace within the Arche Makedonia, its citizens needed only to fear the wraith of the gods:


The only war left to Arche Makedonai is in Italia. There, the Romani some how manage to gather another army. This time, they bring large amounts of cavalry, hoping to counter the Illyrian cavalry under Pyrrhos. With the battlefield on a field outside of Capua, the region's garrison and their reinforcements confront Pyrrhos:


Overcofindent of their ability to break the Pezhetairoi line, the Romani don't even attempt to flank:


As the Pezhetairoi hold down the first of the Romani attackers, the Illyrian cavalry circles around the rear to attack the men the Romani are holding in reserve. The Illyrians attempt to quickly break them so that they might have a clear shot at the rear of the engaged Romani:


The Romani reserves hold the Illyrians long enough for the Romani reinforcements from Capua to arrive, but as the reinforcements approach, General Quintus Cornelius Blasio panics and flees:


The Illyrians are in just the right place and manage to surround the general, killing him. On the battle line, however, the other Romani general, Publius Cornelius Blasio, forces his cavalry through the phalangitai line:


Charging in from the rear, the Illyrians manage to break the last of the Romani cavalry and relieve the phalangitai. In the fight General Publius Cornelius Blasio falls. With the defeat of the Romani cavalry, the only Romani remaining are one large group of infantry attempting to push through on the Makedonike left flank:


As Pyrrhos manuveurs his men to surround the group, the Romani panic and flee. Pyrrhos orders all of this infantry to give chase:


As they chase them down, the Romani once again suprise the Makedones with a late arriving unit of elite spearmen.


The Roman spearmen attempt to buy some time for their routing friends...


...but they panic when confronted with so many of Pyrrhos' soldiers. With that, the last of the Romani flee and Pyrrhos moves on to Capua:


As Pyrrhos marches into the city, he notices that it is vastly over populated. The people of the city are on verge of rioting due to their poor conditions under the Romani. Under the Makedones they are sure to riot. With his distaste for the Romani and his desire to stablize the city, Pyrrhos permits his men to loot and kill. After the looting is over, Pyrrhos gathers nearly half the population of the region and sells them into slavery on the far side of the Arche Makedonia:


While Arche Makedonia fights the Romani, other wars wage across the known world. To the east, the Mauryan Satrapy of Gandhara had repelled several invasions of the Seleukids and had finally decides to launch an invasion of the Iran and Persia. To the north, the rebel Seleukid Satrapy of Baktria had invaded Gandhara territory in the mountains between India and Baktria. After wiping out the Baktrian main force, marching into India itself, the Gandhara forces attempt to retake the region known as Paropamisadai:


To the south, in Karmania and all across the Iranian Plataeu, the forces of Gandhara push across Seleukid territory up to the edges of Persis itself. The Seleukids have the forces to counter the invasion, but they lack the leadership to coordinate and gather their forces in a successful defense:


To the north, in Baktria, land of rivers, the rebel Hellenistic kingdom there is doing much better. With plenty of money, soldiers, and a huge population base, the Baktrians have defeated all the Steppe nations they have fought and now challenge Gandhara. The Baktrians lack the nerves to openly invade the weakened Seleukids, though the Seleukids lack the same courage. More than half a century earlier the Baktrians betrayed the Seleukids and yet Arche Seleukeia did nothing about the open rebellion:


In Media and Hykania, Seleukid territories openly rebelled, declaring themselves free. The regions had originally been supported by the Kingdom of Hayasdan, but recently they had been separated from Hai support and now exsist independantly of the Armenian monachy:


Years earlier, the Seleukids had started a war with the Kingdom of Hayasdan. At first the Hai were winning, but the Seleukids quickly turned all of their attension to this front, forsaking others. Now, Seleukid forces occupy the Hai capital and are prepared to completely defeat the small nation. The Seleukids quickly move to occupy all of Armenia, knowing clearly that the Antigonids had long ago made claims on parts of this region:


The Seleukids not only faced war to the north and the east, but from the south. South of Babylonia, the Kingdom of Sabyn had established a military outpost at the oasis of Gerrha. From there, they are planning to launch in invasion of Babylonia. Though failing on other fronts, the Seleukids are prepared on this one and the initial invasion results in a failure for Sabyn:


Far from there, in Gaul, another great war is being fought. Many years ago the Arverni Kingdom had betrayed the Aedui Confederation and a great 'civil war' had been fought. Originally, the Aedui had won and in following years united all of Gaul. There was peace in Gaul, but then the Romani ended the Aedui hegemony, completely destroying the Gallic military. When the region was liberated from the Romani, territories were restored to their original owners, resulting in a rebalancing of power between the Aedui Confederation and the Kingdom of the Arverni. Having rebuilt over the years, the Arverni Kingdom invade Confederation lands in an attempt to conquer the whole region:


South of there, the Iberian Confederation, lead by the Arevaci and Lusotana peoples, defend their lands from the forces of Kart-Hadast. When Kart-Hadast had started their invasion of the area, the tribes were all devided and at war with eachother. Now all the natives are united against their common foe. Originally the Lusotana had lead the alliance of tribes, but with the temperary occupation of Lusotannan territory, the Arevaci gained power in the confederation. Now, the penninsula is devided between the Confederation and the Qarthadastism, with the Qarthadastism controlled inland territories under violent dispute:


Back to the east, in Aithiopia, the Kingdom of Meroe considers an invasion but does little else besides trading down the Neilos:


In Makedonia, Chrysoloras, son of Alkyoneus dies. With Perseus dead already, Chrysoloras' death marks the end of Alkyoneus' line, for Chrysoloras has no sons, no nephews, and no living brothers:


In Anatolia, uncle of both Chrysoloras and Aristotelis, Euboulides, manages to gather an army. Taking all of his sons with him, Euboulides responds to the pleas from the Bosphorian Hellenes, who have found themselves under siege by the Steppe tribes. Although Arche Makedonia has an alliances with the western Steppe tribes, Euboulides rushes in to garrison the region before he is forced to openly oppose any tribe. Landing near Chersonesos, Euboulides garrisons the town with a couple Pontic Spearmen:

[There was a single unit of Hoplitai guarding the town so I just used auto_win.]

Leaving his two eldest sons in charge of the city, Euboulides and his youngest (and most skilled) son march their army north to secure the rest of the penninsula:


To the south, the armies of Kart-Hadast march against Kyrenaia again:


This time, however, the Kart-Hadast forces are extremely underpowered and Antisthenes wins a quick and easy victory:


With less and less of a challenge being issued by the city of Kart-Hadast, the only remaining war for Arche Makedonia is the Romani War. But in Italia, Pyrrhos rests in Capua and waits to see if the city of Roma will surrender on their own:


The known world in 200BC:


Next: Chapter 33
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Post 3500...

[Gaivs]

Do you have an overall strategy? Recreate the Roman empire with Makedones in their place? Head East and reconquer Alexanders Empire?

[Mouzafphaerre]

.

Have you added a faction for the story or is it just masterful photoshopping?
.

[Chaotix]

Yeah, you're pretty good with recoloring those Eleutheroi provinces! But how did you get the Ptolemaioi banner on the "Kingdom of Meroe's" armies? I thought you destroyed them...

[Chirurgeon]

Excellent job MAA! I particulary like how you mentioned the Ptolemai had reformed their military with the main battle line being made of Theorkikai. That has a familiar sound to it...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Do you have an overall strategy? Recreate the Roman empire with Makedones in their place? Head East and reconquer Alexanders Empire?

My original plan was to recreate Alexander's Empire, but war with the Romani and peace with the Seleukids delayed that. With the fall of Armenia to AS, I fear war in the east is all but inevitable. I might invade Afrika if nothing happens on the eastern front, though. I don't really have any plans for any northern expansion.

.

Have you added a faction for the story or is it just masterful photoshopping?
.

Yeah, you're pretty good with recoloring those Eleutheroi provinces! But how did you get the Ptolemaioi banner on the "Kingdom of Meroe's" armies? I thought you destroyed them...

I actually went into the files and changed the colors and names for Pahlav and Ptolemaioi. Callicles actually gave me the idea, so thanks to him.
I don't know if you can change the symbols, but I didn't even try, that's why they still have their old faction's symbols. (Yes, technically the Ptolemaioi are still alive. I killed them, took a picture of their defeat screen, then reloaded and made them into the Kingdom of Meroe.)

Excellent job MAA! I particulary like how you mentioned the Ptolemai had reformed their military with the main battle line being made of Theorkikai. That has a familiar sound to it...

Thanks. It was actually when I read your AAR that I decided to try and mod in Thorakitai for the Makedonians. Due to a fortunate oversight in EB, it was quite easy to get them into the game.

[Hooahguy]

whoa. so the Ghandaharans are actually the phalavans, and the meroeans are the ptoleis?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Yep. It is quite fun for role-playing too.
Though, I consider the death of all the Ptolemaios family to be the end of the Ptolemaioi. All they have left is two generals with some random names.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Just a preview:

When I first got RTW to work on my new rig, I turned grass all the way up (since it was the only graphic detail I could think of that wasn't already maxed out). It's max range (500) wasn't very good (I couldn't see much if I zoomed the camera all the way out) and it caused a little lag. In the end I turned it down to 100 (default=75). But here is an example of what EB looks like with the highest detail levels I could get out of the engine:

P.S. I took pictures of my family tree and am working on editing them.
P.P.S. I'm spamming a bit, so that when I finish my next chapter it will be on the next page of this thread. (Though, there is no rush, I'll finish it late tommorrow at the soonest.)

[Hax]

Marcus...where do you live...

I am going to steal your computer...

So...pretty...

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

It's so dark I can hardly see anything.:(

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I put together the family tree and decided to label a few guys. I put a little
too much info for some guys, but here is the Antigonid family tree in the year
197BC. I've numbered a few important guys that I've
mentioned throughout the AAR and will describe them a bit.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'll start with the most important family then go to the side families:
In the center we have Antigonos Gonatas (1) and his family. Grandson of Antigonos
Monophthalmus, Antigonos Gonatas united the Hellenes and began the campaigns against the
Ptolemaioi. His first born son, Alkyoneus (2) shared the throne with his brother after the
death of Antigonos, but died himself in the Pontic War. Perseus (3) and Chrysoloras (4)
did not inheret the throne, but instead dedicated their lives administering Makedonia and
working the Hellenes into Arche Makedonia. With no sons, Perseus and Chrysoloras are the end
of Alkyoneus' line.

Antigonos' second son, Demetrios (5) was a great general when he first came to share the
throne. When his brother died, he came to the throne and lead Arche Makedonia to glory. Almost
single-handedly defeating the Ptolemaioi, Demetrios shifted his attension to Kart-Hadast and
Roma. Still planning more conquests, Demetrios died in Massalia and passes the throne to his
son. Named for the instructor of Alexandros, Aristotelis (6) came to be a great general,
conquering the Levant at the end of the Aigyptos Wars. When his father dies, he comes to
inheirit the throne of Makedonia. With troubles in the east, Aristotelis prepares to realize his dream
of reuniting Alexandros' Empire.

Aristotelis is the only son of Demetrios and has but two sons himself. Neokles (7) witness
to Demetrios' death leads the western army, while Bykoli (8) leads the new Syrian army at
his father's orders.

Finally, there is the last son of Antigonos, Euboulides (9). Euboulides spent his early life
administering Makedonia and Epieros while his father and brothers did greater things. When his
eldest brother, Alkyoneus died in the Pontic War, Euboulides took command of his army and
defeated the last of the Pontic kings. When the First Armenian War started, Euboulides lead the
main attacks against the Hai and took several territories from them. Recently, Euboulides
acquired Bosphoria for Arche Makedonia. His son-in-law, Lysippos, now leads the war in the
Second Armenian War. Due to Euboulides' brothers' families inability to have sons, Euboulides'
line may someday rule the Arche...

To the left we have Krateros (10), elder brother of Antigonos. His son, Alexandros (11)
, conqueror of Illyria. Most of his family administered Illyria, but Nepos (12) leads the
invasion of northern Italia with his sons. First born son, Neikolaos (13) led a Celtic army to
victories in Gaul against the Romani. Second son, Gelon (14) takes control of northern
Italia. And third son, Pyrrhos the Crippled (15) conquers most of Italia and continues to
defeat the Romani.

To the far right, there is Kalos (16), younger brother of Antigonos. After Kalos' failed attempt
to take Pergamon, his family has not had very much military activity. His descendants now
administer Anatolia, while his in-laws are sent wherever they are needed across the Arche.

[Chirurgeon]

wow nicely done MAA! I want to do that for my campaign. How did you get the whole family tree in one picture where you can view without scrolling back and forth?

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

It's actually 14 or 15 pictures that I stuck together (thus all the stupid, repeating "Family Tree"s across the top).

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 34 : Eastern Expansion
The Fall of Hayasdan

As the winter of 198BC hits, the Romani end their campaigning season and withdraw back to Latium:


With fresh Sikilian reinforcements to garrison the huge city of Capua, Pyrrhos takes the initiative the next spring. Gathering his entire army, Pyrrhos marches into Latium, raiding any Romani allies he finds along the way, and besieges the city of Roma itself:


The spring of 197BC also sees the Makedonike campaign in Armenia. Having campaigned in Iberia, Lysippos manages to corner Bagrat Yervanduni, king of Hayasdan in the small city of Mtskheta, along the Kyros River. Bagrat is well prepared, though, and can stand a lengthy siege. Rather than risk Hai reinforcement from their allies to the east, Lysippos decides to attack the city:


Only Bagrat Yervanduni, his elite cataphracts, and a few elite infantry hold the city. With minor defenses, it is an easy task for the Peltastai to break down the walls:


At first, the Hai infantry move to defend the walls, but Lysippos moves his archers near the walls. The archers hold their fire at first, but at Lysippos' command they open fire. The Hai elites attempt to flee, but all those who moved to defend the breach end the day in Hades:


With the walls taken, Lysippos moves his phalangitai into the city. Taking their time, they slowly march down the streets, eventually surrounding the city center. Rather than let the noose tighten around his neck, King Bagrat charges out to confront the phalangitai on his own terms:


The heavy Haikakan cataphracts are only halted for a moment. Soon, King Bagrat leads his men in breaking through the pikes and attack the phalangitai directly:


As the phalangitai slowly get out-matched, more phalangitai units move to surround the Haikakan king and attack him from multiple sides:


As the rest of the Makedonike army moves against the last of the infantry, King Bagrat manages to completely disrupt the phalangitai formation and break through them. Seeing the distress, a third unit of phalangitai move in to assist on the critical right flank:


Eventually, the formations of the phalangitai completely break down and Lysippos, who is leading from just behind the battle, orders his men to switch to their swords:


Even though King Bagrat and his men killed many Makedones, the noose around his neck is finally tightened when his men begin to panic and try to flee. With nowhere to flee to, the surrounded cataphracts are slaughtered and Bagrat Yervanduni, King of Hayasdan falls dead in the streets of Mtskheta.

With their king dead, the last of the Hai choose to stand to the last at the city center. Lysippos blocks all exits and has his archers, who are deployed all around the city, open fire on the city center:


The last of the Hai eventually fall, dead or injured, and the city is taken, but with greater causualties than Lysippos had first assumed:


With the fall of Iberia and the Lake Van region, only the capital city of Armavir remains loyal to the dying Kingdom of Hayasdan. With many groups of spies and sabateurs in the city, the infrastructure and gateways of the city are already destroyed. Unable to attack the city himself, Lysippos orders the Kappadokians and Pontics to besiege the city:


The first to march forward are the Peltastai, who slowly move forward then charge as soon as the towers and wall defenders open fire on them. With most or the Haikakan soldiers on the walls, only a small unit of cavalry defend the gateway. After a short fight, the cavalry break and the the Peltastai take the gateway:


Haikakan reinforcements soon arrive from the walls and elsewhere in the city. As the Peltastai hold down the enemy, the phalangitai rush through the gateway and make their way into the city, past all the defenders.

To the north, the Kappadokian army charges another gateway:


This gateway, however is well defended and the Kappadokians are halted at the gate:


Eventually the Peltastai panic and flee from the city. By this time, however, the phalangitai have made their way deep into the city and have taken up a defensive possition. The wall defenders rush in to defend the city center, but are meet by a wall of spears:


As one flank holds down the infantry from the walls, the left flank turns to meet cavalry from the city center:


To the north, however, the Kappadocians continue to take losses and fail to take the gateway. They do, however, manage to tie down half the the defending force and prevent them from assisting their comrades with the phalangitai.

With the western gate undefended, the Pontic slingers take the oppertunity to take control of the walls. From their high possition, they open fire on any Haikakan soldiers that are stupid enough to get near them:


With the bulk of the phalangitai holding down the Haikakan infantry still, the left flank moves toward the city center to get into a better possition. Eventually, the Haikakan cavalry archers run out of arrows and charge their possition, but the phalangitai hold their ground:


Eventually, the Kappadokian army breaks and flees. Without support, the phalangitai and slingers withdraw as well and leave the Hai in control of the city. Though an official failure, the remaining Hai forces are reduced to a quarter of their strength:


A month later, the old veteran, Captain Aristokles, who had retaking the Van Lake region the previous autumn, marches his Thrakian army against the city of Armavir:


Once again, the gateway is easily taken, as the Thrakians cut the horses out from under the Hai:


The Thrakians then take the walls and kill the few men left defending them:


To the south, the steppe cavalry manages to take up possition on a hill that gives them the range to attack the wall defenders, on the far side of the city:


With the walls taken, Captain Aristokles marches his men to the city center, where the Getic spearmen pin down the Haikakan infantry:


The Haikakan cavalry attempt to attack the flank of the spearmen, but are quickly outmanuevered by the Thrakians:


With the Thrakians in possition, most of the Getic soldiers break formation and surround the enemy cavalry:


The Thrakians cut through the enemy as if it were nothing, and soon only a few elites remain fighting:


Finally, the last enemy falls and Captain Aristokles and the Thrakians take the city:

[Captain Aristokles, himself, on the right.]

Captain Aristokles takes many losses amoungst the Thrakians, but the Getic spearmen, and various cavalry get through the battle with very few losses:


As the battle comes to a close, the people of the city, themselves, begin to take up arms against the Thrakians. Before anything can be done, another battle begins. In the end many Hai civilians die and Captain Aristokles orders many more gathered to be sold as slaves elsewhere in Arche Makedonia:


With the fall of Iberia and Armavir, the last of those loyal to the Kingdom of Hayasdan are brought into Arche Makedonia. Aristotelis is happy to hear that the kingdom that had caused so much trouble has finally passed from this world and joined those like the Ptolemaioi and the Kingdom of Pontos:


As for Captain Aristokles and his men, Aristotelis grants them land near Lake Van, where they had spent most of their military career. This region, to the south, is on much friendlier terms with Arche Makedonia due to the prior occupation and due to their relationship with the King of Sophene. Taking a wife from the city of Tushpa, the Thrakian commander, Aristokles ends his career with Arche Makedonia and settles down for his old age:


Far south of their, Makedonike intel finds that the Sab'yn Kingdom has mobilized their entire military in an attempt to invade Seleukid Babylonia:


With a core of elite Arabs, Aristotelis estimates they have more than enough to defeat the weakened Seleukids. For now, Aristotelis continues the peace with the Seleukids and waits to see how this war will develop:


Other ominous news reaches Aristotelis this year, as spies report that a Hellenic man in Nubia claims to be descendant from the Ptolemaic line and claims rights to all the lands once in his ancestor's hands. For now, Arche Makedonia simply calls the man a fake and ignores the problem:


The known world in 197BC:


Next: Chapter 35 : The Fall of Roma

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

I thought all the Ptolemies were extincted, only in-laws left? A bit much battle this time, but still great. I love it how you give "leftovers" a new colour and declare them a different faction. But how did you manage to get the "Hay destroyed" pop-up when they are still alive in Iran?