Freedom - A Koinon Hellenon AAR

[Hax]

Hello-eh!

My new AAR has been officially been lifted off the ground. For the people that have read my previous topic, yes, I'm still busy with this Barti- I mean, Baktria thing, but it's pretty difficult.

So, here we are. I planned a Koinon Hellenon AAR, for this is a faction hardly any AAR's were written about before, except Cirdan Dharix's AAR, which I absolutely love! You're a very good writer, man.

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House rules:

-No Blitzing
-No cheating whatsoever (that includes toggle_fow)
-No more than 4 missile units in one army.
-Every (invading) army must be led by a General or Family member [unless in special cases]
-Mercenary armies that have lost their commanding general will go on a raid. They shall take any enemy settlement in the close vicinity, exterminate and abandon it, no matter if it is Greek or non-Greek.
-The Spartiate Agoge will only be available for family members that originate from Sparta. Others will study in the field and in libraries.
-Different families control different parts of our Kingdom. Rhodioi will control islands, Athenaioi Democratic cities, Spartiatai Local Tyrannic cities and Korinthoi naval important cities.
-When cities revolt, always exterminate.
-Cities as Thermon may not be invaded, only gained through liberation or proper persuasion [read = bribing].
-Governor related type of temple. Certain family members may only build temples that were historically significant to their God.

Rules for occupying/enslaving/exterminating are as following:

Occupy: Cities with Greek inhabitants (e.g. Thermon, Sinope, Taras, Rhegion, Syrakousai etc), or non-Greek cities that have proven loyal to the Koinon.

Enslave: Non-Greek cities.

Exterminate: Enemy capitals, and lands of old enemies (the Karthadastim, Persians etc). However, in the rare case that an invading army is lead by a captain, the population will always be exterminated.



Green = Occupy
Yellow = Enslave
Red = Exterminate

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Temples

Governor Related

Lakedaimonos: Artemis

Attikos: Athena Polias

Rhodios: Apollo

Korinthios: Poseidon

Settlement Related

Thermon: Zeus-Olympios or Apollo

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Mods:

-BI.exe, with Schiltrom, Shield Wall, Night Battles etc enabled.
-EB Tweaks by Cirdan Dharix
-First Cohort/Chariot/Elephant mod by TW Fanatic

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If anyone has any advice or corrections (especially spelling, I never studied Ye Olde Greek, so I'll probably make a LOT of mistakes on that part). I'd like some advice on my House Rules as well.

Going to play now, and I'll update within a couple of hours, methinks.

[Moosemanmoo]

yay! good luck

[BerkeleyBoi]

Ah yes, I'm looking forward to this! Good luck!

[Caelus]

Looks good, I’ll be keeping an eye out for progress.

[Hax]

Okay, there's some trouble now :P

I keep getting a persistent CTD which I think has to do with the different types of government in the EB tweaks mod thing.

In the worst case I'll have to re-install EB, but I don't think it'll come to that.

[Moosemanmoo]

cursed machines

[Hax]

Yes! I fixed teh CTD!

I'm going pretty steady now, but I'm going to visit a concert in 30 minutes, so I'll be dead tired when I come back (though they do have seats...tricky tricky)

Either tonight or tomorrow Chapter Uno!

[Hax]

Okay. For people that comment on the historical accuracy e


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Chapter I - Securing the Homeland

'Hold! Keep steady!'

As the blond men stormed towards deadly line of pikes, I looked up to the sky and shortly prayed to Zeus. When I looked down again, they were almost upon us. In a split-second, the first line had impaled themselves upon our line. The charge had failed, but they had not yet broken. We gave not an inch. Wave after wave, line after line vanished upon our pikes.

'Hippeis! Hippeis!'

I turned to see the commotion on our right flank. A enormous force was about to crash into the Thureophoroi on our flanks.



Finally, some of the blond men decided not to charge desperately into our pikes. They stood their ground, and braced themselves.



Slowly but steadily, we marched on, and quickly ended them.

'Enforce the Thureophoroi!' The commander shouted. Careful not to break our line, we marched up again, encircling the enemy horsemen. Carrying a large aspis, endorned with the huge symbol of a lobster, these men were widely feared. Loncorophoi Hippeis, elite horsemen from Hellas. Seemingly, the Epeirotes had stolen this design from our lands.

As we marched on, I pondered the last years. Ten years before, The Koinon Hellenon as we called ourselves was in danger. Surrounded by the Makedonioi at every side, we were largely dependent on luck. We took Korinthos back in the first year of the war, and although we suffered defeat after defeat, the Gods from Olympos were still with us. They allowed us to learn from our mistakes.

The son of Areus, our Hegemon, had died before the gates of Pella five years before. Without a proper way to counter the Phalangitai of Alexandros' Diadochoi, we had a severe disadvantage. So, in Athenai, our Capital, Chremonides and Areus discussed the best way to counter these enemies. After a lengthy discussion in which many amphorae of wine were emptied, they had invented a new design.

Armed with a short pike, longer than the old spears that the Hoplitai used, but shorter than the Sarrisa from Makedonia, and using linen and leather armour, carrying lighter shields. I was one of these men.

Iphikratous Hoplitai.



Before we even arrived, the battle was over. Their commander had died on our pikes shortly before, and soon, the entire army broke and ran away, abandoning their so-called honor.

I saw one of the Epeirote commanders lying face down in the mud, his banner covered with blood, the textile ripped to shreds.



A clearer sign could not exist. The Gods from Olympos were guiding us, and we achieved a crushing victory that day.



That night, our commanding general, Doros Aithalidos, son of Chremonides, held a rousing speech.

'This morning, the Epeirote dogs from the Barbaroi north, sent an army planned on destroying us! Without even a proper declaration of war, they marched up to the city of Thermon! We, the sons of Olympos, destroyed the army of Pyrrhos Aiakides less then two months ago in the hilly regions of Thessalonika! I have been told that his body was found, his neck pierced by a deadly bullet from a sling. What clearer signs could exist? This proves that the Gods, that Zeus himself approves of what we do?'

There was a short pause

'Now, I say that we march up to Ambrakia itself, and batter away at the gates until the blood of the heirs of Pyrrhos shall wash the city! What do you say?!'

There was a huge blast of sound, everyone shouted with approval, and even the eagles up above quickly changed their course.

Our hearts filled with the vision of wealth, were easily lain to rest after such a decisive day.

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Blegh, short chapter. Part two of it this evening. I'm not feeling very well today though.

[Hooahguy]

nice...... i subscribed to this AAR, along with my 4 others......

[Kuningaz]

Really nice but please use a bigger size for the texts - it's almost impossible to read them

[Hax]

It is? =O

Then my eyes must be very good, hmm...alright, I'll try a bigger size. Thanks for saying that.

[Moosemanmoo]

Yeah hand it to the wannabe successors!

[Hax]

Thanks for the comments, people. Part two of Chapter I.



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Chapter I - Securing the Homeland - Part II

Even though many soldiers fell that day, our army was still largely intact, more than able enough to march upon Ambrakia. We could not march on directly, however. Severe snowfall prevented us from reaching the lowlands, and so we had to make up camp in the mountains.



When we finally marched on, I noticed that the closer we got to Ambrakia, the more it seemed that the country was abandoned. Villages and farms were left abandoned, everyone was fleeing north, in fear of our army. On a sunny day, we could finally see the walls of Ambrakia in the north.

Walls? They were nothing more but a thin palisade of sharpened sticks. The arrogance of the Epeirotes was so great that they didn't think of the fact that could one day be invaded here.

We planned to invade the city as soon as possible, yet suddenly, grievous news arrived from Sparte. Areus Agiados Lakedaimonos, Hegemon of the Koinon had died peacefully in his bed.



Negotiations followed quickly thereafter. Ptolemaios promised a 12-day ceasefire that enabled us to woe in peace.

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When we were able to march upon the city, dignitaries were sent into Ambrakia to inform Ptolemaios of the coming battle. The large battering rams that were constructed from nearby woods rolled loomingly towards the city, the sound of the feet marching over the green plains as if Zeus himself was present.



The small Epeirote garrison consisted out of little more than mercenaries from the north, together with the small amount of survivors from the previous battle, which was already a year ago.



The weak gates proved no match for the ram and it quickly fell. Seemingly, these walls were more designed to keep one's local peasant uprising out than a standing army.



'Phalanx!'

We dropped our pikes almost simultaneously, and marched into the city, covered by the Ekdromoi.

As soon as we were inside the city, we were greeted by the remaining Loncorophoi, that had managed to escape fate once before in Epeiros, but they would certainly meet Hermes Psychopompos before nightfall.



A huge horse galloped towards me, and I braced myself for the coming impact. As he thrust himself towards me, I defensively pulled my pike upwards, piercing his lower stomach, and penetrating his guts. I quickly pulled it back again. He fell from his horse and collapsed unto the city streets. Terrified, his hands tried to reach out to something to cling on to.

Without doubt, I stepped forwards, unsheathed my sword and ended his life.

Seeing the complete chaos in which we now were, our commander rallied us once again and ordered us to turn.



'And, march on!'

To our right, Ptolemaios had finally joined into the fray, crashing his horsemen into our second line of Iphikratouioi. The worst part was that he was winning.



Yet not for long.

Seeing this new threat, Doros Aithalidos ordered the Ekdromoi to rush in and relieve pressure from the Iphikratouioi. It was there that he made a tactical mistake, though a small one. Ekdromoi were not trained to fight highly-armoured cavalry units.



As I turned my attention back on our own fight, the last of the Loncorophoi had fallen and were now lying motionless upon the cold ground.

Our Speirarches finally ordered us to reform. All would have been well if I had not seen Ptolemaios engaged in close-combat with one of the Ekdromoi.



He must have been paralyzed with fear, as he did not move. Suddenly, in an act of rashness, I charged from our line and ran past the battle, ignoring my Speirarches shouting my name repeatedly, until I reached him. Ptolemaios already lifted his xyston to end the poor lad's life when I drew my sword. Within a moment, I jumped up on his horse and buried my xiphos deep in his throat. He fell from his life, and dragged me with him, and we both crashed into the floor. I got up again and felt a sharp pain near my shoulder. It would appear my collar bone had been broken. My shield too heavy for me to carry now anyways, I dragged Ptolemaios' out of the breach and laid him down upon the ground. Dragging him all the way back to camp, nearly 2 miles further, with a broken collar bone and exhausted from the battle, I finally collapsed and looked upon his body. The spot where I had pierced his neck was obscured by a crust of dried blood. After a short rest, I continued dragging him further. Seeing that now I had destroyed my entire career in the army, I could sell his belongings on the Agora back home. I would only return to our camp, collect what little belongings I had and leave.

My plans didn't come that far, or otherwise I would not have been writing this.

Doros Aithalidos, our Stratege himself stood at the top of a hill where we had made camp, overlooking the battle. I tried to slip past him unnoticed, but I failed in my effort.

'You there! Soldier!'

A cold fear gripped my heart. I had heard rumours of what would happen with soldiers that had deserted and found.

'You have one moment to tell us why you are not at the battle!'

It would seem my entire body was working at top-speed to think of a likely excuse.

'Stratege...with all due respect, sir...this is the body of Ptolemaios Aiakides, sir.'

He laughed, although it was not a pleasant laugh

'And then why, soldier do you come back here, instead of staying with your unit?'

'Stratege...I am a member of the Iphikratouioi, and I believe I just broke my collar-bone. I cannot carry a shield properly anymore, I would have been of no more use, sir.'

'I see.' He seemed to calm down a little. He walked towards me, and looked upon the corpse. He appeared to be a little perplexed, seeing that I had told the truth. He waved his hand towards someone in the background. That someone soon ran up to us.

'Control him for fractured locations.'

'I'm fine, sir, thank you.' I responded

'Not you, the body.' Doros coldly replied.

Now it was my turn to be slightly perplexed.

'Soldier, what is your name?' He said, as he turned towards me

'Aetos Nicodemonos'

'I see.'

There was a short pause

'Aetos, do you know the punishment for desertion?'

I shook my head. 'Vague rumours heard, Stratege'

'It is of no matter. You single-handedly killed a great enemy of the Koinon today, Aetos. I trust you know how to ride a horse?'

'Yes, Stratege.'

'Good. I cannot punish you, that much is obvious. The Gods themselves have chosen you as the killer of Ptolemaios, so...I am going to reward you instead.'

From the bushes suddenly a messenger arrived that ran up to Doros, whispered something and received a small pouch of water from him.

'It seems Ambrakia has fallen. As soon as I return to Athenai, I will convince the Council of the Koinon that we must re-take Sinope from the cruel Persians. I want you to lead the Xystophoroi.'

Again, I was competely dazed.

'But...sir, Stratege...the Xystophoroi are...nobles, I am but a simple man from Attike, I am not a noble in anyway. And I have no experience leading men whatsoever.'

'Then we will make you one,' he slyly replied.

'I don't know if --'

'Are you going to refuse?' Finally, a small smile broke through on his lips.

'Of course not, Stratege...this is a great honour.' I bowed and suddenly felt the pain again.

'Oh, and chirurgeon?' Doros said, 'See to it that Aetos here gets his wounds healed.'

Suddenly, I was surrounded by three or four men that guided me into a tent, telling me to sit down and undress myself.

I could hardly believe it. I expected to be woken any minute by my Speirarches. Yet it did not happen, and I was now one of the nobles. Not just a noble, I was Speirarches of the Hippeis Xystophoroi.



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I had to ennoble this guy, seeing that I do not have BerkeleyBoi's awesome talent for using short sentences to describe things. Kudos to him for both of his great AAR's. Must-read, really.

Off to bed, finally, it's 2:12 AM here. So if there's any spelling or grammar mistakes, it's because of the time :p

[Hooahguy]

that was really good.....

[Moosemanmoo]

[Hax]

Bad EB. Very bad.

I had to re-install my install of EB, so all my savegames went numb =_=.

This AAR is dead now, but I will start a new campaign with Baktria.

[Hooahguy]

man, this seems to be a trend, isnt it? well, have fun with baktria! i sure did.....

[Wolfman]

I request nay DEMAND that you write another AAR Hax. Your AARs are so life like and enjoyable to read.

[Chirurgeon]

nice...... i subscribed to this AAR, along with my 4 others......

I better be on that list!

Great AAR man. I love your screenshots. I had always been curious about a Greek AAR. This looks quite promising!

[Hooahguy]

I better be on that list!

o yes, you are... dont worry..... lol