From the Hindu Kush - An Arche Seleukeia AAR

[Hax]

Since I screwed up my old Epeirote game, I've been busy with this AS thing.

Instead of most AAR's, this story will be told from two viewpoints. Two men who were unlikely to ever become friends.

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Prologue: From the Mountains



'The mountains were my home. I am called Amhan, the Fearless. My father told me Brahma created the world we live in, he erected the mountains and filled the oceans with water. I have never seen the sea in my entire life. I grew up in a hut in the mountains, destined to be a goat herder later. Until the men came from the low-lands. They took me from my home, and told me I was to become a great warrior, a warrior of the Sreni. I did not understand. And I left my home in the mountains.'



'I remember little of the march to Taksashila, except the terrible rains that kept plagueing us.'



'At the age of seven, I witnessed the first death in my life (except for the goats, but they don't count). A venomous spider had bitten one of the men who came to take me. He turned ill and died within a day.'



'I remember seeing the walls of Taksashila from far, glistening from far. When I first set eyes on them it seemed as if Brahma himself had lifted up stones to create these walls, for what man could make such a thing?'

'I was brought to a rich Indian nobleman to live, and serve, though I spent most of my times training to be a great soldier, or so they told me. They gave me a bow, a sword and a shield, and I was now a warrior. As I progressed and I reached the age of fourteen, they incorporated me into a Guild.'


'They gave me a house, servants and status. Everything was well. Until the white men came from the desert...'

[Chirurgeon]

I like the feel that the pics add. Makes it easier to see what you are describing. Beautiful as well. This should be good. The second wave of AARs is under way!

[TWFanatic]

Yikes! Spiders!

[Frodge]

Osome start Hax, Indians FTW

[Gebeleisis]

good start m8 :)

[Basileus Seleukeia]

Oh, finally a Seleukid AAR! I will shurely follow this one. It looks very promising to me so far.

[Wolfman]

This looks like its going to be interesting . Can't wait for the next update Hax!

[Reality=Chaos]

Nice!!! finally a AS AAR and not just an AS AAR. One with an awesome first chapter

[Hax]

Discovery: The entire Indian state is one big sissy. They just refuse to sally and surrender >.> Very little to no battle pics.

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Chapter I - At the end of the world


June 6th, Just outside of Opiana, 539th year after the first Olympiad, by the annals of Ktesikles Apollonikos Sozopolitikes.
'Enter.'

Rain kept pouring from the skies, and ticked against the canvas of the tent. I looked up.

'Stratege?'

'What is it, speirarche?'

'The city has surrendered...the siege is over.'

I got up from my improvised desk and followed the speirarche outside. Despite the heavy rainfall it was immensely hot. This truly was the end of the world, it would seem.

'Ready my horse,' I said to one of my servants. The Speirarche looked at me questioningly.

Why was he doing so? Did he not know I had no further use for him.

'Dismissed!' He simply nodded and left.

One meets such foolish people sometimes.

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October 23th

'We marched away from Opiana three weeks ago.'



'I have installed my speirarche in the city as head magistrate, serving as a client ruler while I march to Taksashila. The rain is still terrible, though our scouts report the weather is better about 20 miles north. We are following the great river up north. I have installed a small Indikoi garrison in the city known as Opiana.'

'The river is great, and it flows broadly.'



October 30th

'We are on schedule, everything is going fine. We should reach Taksashila before the next Olympiad if everything goes well. A messenger arrived from the west today, from the city of Ekbatana. The Pontic king has been replaced by one more...fit, and the cities of Amaseia and Sinope have been annexed.'



November 21th

'I have seen no snow yet, which surprises me. The climate is more pleasant than it has ever been.'



Spies report that Taksashila is at least a year's march from now...or it would be in normal conditions. In these strange lands, it could be more than ten years before we arrive.

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As I said, I had expected more battles, so I have little to really tell. Hopefully Taksashila will be more of a challenge. You can expect more in the next update, I hope.

[Chirurgeon]

Hehe I like your chapter title...has a familiar ring to it Gorgeous pictures again

[Hax]

I've read the way you looked up your pics, Chirurgeon, and they are absolutely magnificent. I'm the lazy guy and just uses Google.com.

I'll go fiddle with Google Earth in the morning and see what I can fix.

Now it appears I completely overrated the Indians. I took my best mercenary archers in fear of those elephants, along with some skirmishers, taking a full stack towards their cities.

Feh!

They are just a bunch of worthless cowards.

[Chaotix]

Nice! a great AAR already, I can't wait to see some battles. By the way, what happened to your Epeiros campaign?

[Hax]

Well, I had to un-install something, and it wasn't save-game compatible <.<

[Wolfman]

I hope this doesn't mean this AAR is dead?

[Hax]

By the way, what happened to your Epeiros campaign?

No, haha. I was responding to this question.

That would've been a new record :P

[Wolfman]

Well thats Good. Had me worried and sweating there for a sec

[Good Ship Chuckle]

I like the scenery, but lets get to the action!!

[EmporerOfNothing]

Great start to your AAR. hope some of these pathetic cities put u a fight so we can see some good action shots.

[Hax]

Thanks for all your replies, guys. Finally, there has been some action! Against the Baktrians, that is. See chapter.

@Basileus: I will try not to let you down.

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Chapter II - The Satrapy of Baktria

Winter, told by Amhan

'There has been some form of truce between the city of Taksashila and the white men. Supposedly, the only thing the white men demanded were two units of the Sreni Patthya Yoddaha, so I've been sent away again. We've been marching past the great river, and are now headed west.



Spring, west of Opiana

The white man that was now are new lord met us on route today. His name is Theri- Thar-, Theris Bost-, well, his name is not important as of now. I will learn Greek in due time. He walks alongside his soldiers as if he were one of us, and he speaks with us in our own tongue.

As we were dining last night, he stood up and spoke.

'Indikoi, sons of Brahma, there is something you may need to know. There is a reason why we have taken you so far from your home. Your skills with arms is known even at my home, many miles from here. We are waging war on the Kingdom of Baktria,'

As he said those last words, it almost looked as if he quivered.

'When Yskander came to your lands, he appointed a governor, known in Hellas as a 'satrap' to govern the lands of Baktria. When Yskander, Alexandros, died, he left Baktria, along with several other states under our guidance. The relationship with their satrap, Diodotos, was good, but his son is a cruel and vile man. He allied himself with terrible nomads from the steppes north of the great mountains, and led a surprise attack on our most northern of cities.

Severely undermanned, the garrison refused to surrender, and eventually, the Baktrians attacked.

The battle lasted nearly 20 hours, from the rising of the sun, till the moon had almost reached it's highest point, but in the end, we were victorious.'



'This is the reason why we fight. It has become evident that the Satrapy of Baktria has become unstable and corrupt, and can't keep itself together.'

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Spring, Prophthasia

'We've been on the march for almost two years, but we've finally arrived in the city of Prophtasia, and when we arrived, I saw new soldiers drilling in the city barracks, carrying enormous lances, almost the size of a tree!



They have the ability to form a deadly line of spears that looks terrifying, and these seem to be a great asset on the battlefield.

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Winter, North of Prophthasia

Battle is near. A small Baktrian force has mustered across the river Farah, north of Prophthasia. My Greek is getting better on the other hand. I can decently spell and say the name of our commander now, "Theris Bostras Nabataeikes".

This may be my last day on this earth, we shall see...

Winter,

Yesterday I awoke with the sounds of trumpets. We were all aligned into battle formation before the sun reached mid-way.



The Phalangitai, as the long-spear men are called, were sent over the bridge first. Not long afterwards, we followed.



As soon as we crossed over, we were greeted by a shower of arrows. With no place to hide, I ducked and tried to make myself as small as possible, while holding my little shield above my head.



Suddenly, the rain of arrows stopped. As I looked closer, it seemed that the cavalry had charged into the archers, making them cease their fire.

'Move onward!'

We started marching, and the sun heated my thick leather armour. Before too long, we had reached the enemy. Apparently, they had their own Phalangitai.

We quickly ran past them while the two clashed.



'Steady! Wait for it!'

When we finally had encircled them completely, the signal for attack was given.

Charge!



We crashed into their lines and cut them down ruthlessly, as we had learned in the great city of Taksashila. Memories of practice-dummies went through my mind as my blade cut through the flesh of the Baktrians like a knife through butter.



One man just had the time to turn, when I slashed his neck open, and we pushed on. Apparently, the stress was too great for them to handle, and they soon broke off and ran.



The day was ours.



Very little managed to survive, and they quickly scattered, never to be heard of again.



As of now, the way to Alexandreia-Ariana is open, yet there were rumors of a Baktrian army south.

And so we marched on.
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[EmporerOfNothing]

Great update Hax I'm glad that someone finally decided to resist your expansion (as long as you win the battles)

[Chirurgeon]

1. Screenshots are amazing! So real looking.
2. Realism is nice. Made me feel like I was marching with them. I love the screenshot of the column of men marching down the road. So cool to see your man from distant lands seeing things like Sarissas.

Keep it up!!

[Frodge]

Yeah the screens do look top notch and the writing aint bad either

[Gebeleisis]

great,just great cant w8 for an update

[Hax]

Chapter III - Ariana

We finally arrived near Alexandreia in Ariana about two months ago, and have been besieging the city since.

Before we could attack, another Baktrian force attacked from the south.



The amount of men was about even, counting almost 1900 men on their side and 1800 on ours.



Yet, they took with them something worth fearing, ferocious and terrible, their armour glistening from far. Later I found out that these heavily-armoured men were called 'Kataphraktoi' in Greek.



These men are clad completely in metal armour, as are their horses. A terrible sight on the battlefield indeed, ferocious enemies.

I felt how the long grass softly stroked past my leg, as we waited until the enemy to come closer.



The slingers, "sphendonetai" as they are called, were already sent forward to pelt the enemy with slingshots.

Soon, a runner was sent back from the slingers, telling us how the Baktrian commander had received a slingshot to the neck, causing him to die, and we cheered.



Finally, the long spears appeared at the other side of the hill. The enemy was drawing closer with every step, and I prepared to draw my sword as I heard shouting next to me. As I looked to turn, it seemed the Baktrian reinforcements had drawn very close already! Quickly, the Phalane- Phli-, the long spear men were sent forward, and we were ordered the guard their flanks.

The white-skinned men drew closer and closer, and when they were about to charge, we did so before them, crashing into their lines.



This fight lasted less than five minutes, but a lot of blood was spilt...on their side, at least.



It did not take long before they turned and routed, and we cut them down as they were running away.



As we re-organized and counted our losses (2, to be exact, both eligible for healing, but were unable to fight for the rest of the battle), we saw another band of light-skinned men approaching, these carrying spears and bows.

Again, the horn was blown, and we charged into them.



These being very poorly armoured, our blades quickly cut a bloody swath through them.

As we cheered in our victory, we looked at our front, and choked in our cheering. About a thousand feet further, our General was in trouble. His bodyguard was being decimated. We quickly looked at each other and then started running towards them.



Finally, we were there. I saw him look upon us with the look of utter gratitude upon his face. A battle was hardly necessary.



The sheer charge was already enough to break the cowardly pale archers.

We looked upon the field. We barely missed more than 300 men, and the enemy was completely decimated.



The last remaining soldiers of the Baktrians ran as fast as they could, leaving Ariana wide open for our soldiers.





That night, Theris held a flaming speech. At least, I think it was one, because I could only catch up parts of what he said. I believe he said 'fighting for justice' and 'unquestionable bravery'. I almost fell asleep when he suddenly started speaking in our own language.

'And, at the last, but certainly not the least, I wish to thank the bravest soldiers I have ever met, the Sreni Patthya Yoddaha, for they have killed many a Baktrian soldier today, and without their fearless way of fighting, maybe victory would not have been ours! So I drink, to my Indian friends! May the live long and prosper, and live their days in happiness and health!'

He raised his cup and immediately gulped everything down.

We erupted in loud cheering and raised our own cups. The liquid was extraordinarily sweet. I tasted honey, mixed with anise, and I believe some strange fruit. It was delicious, and the feasting lasted long into the night.

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The conquering of Alexandreia in Ariana was most peaceful. The inhabitants were left mostly alone, and Theris spoke on the market-place, I believe it is called the 'Agora'. I was invited into his residence once, and saw him bent over a great map which I did not recognize at all.



'Amhan, I wished to speak with you. We are leaving for the city of Baktra in the north,' he pointed towards a location about a years march north of Alexandreia.

'I shall inform the soldiers, then'.

As I turned to leave, suddenly, a man came rushing in. He bowed and exchanged a few words in Greek with Theris. I tried to understand, but he talked too fast. Theris looked most worried, and with a stern face he handed a letter to the man, that saluted, and left.

'The...Baktrians have moved before we did. They are on the way to our city as we speak. Come with me to the walls, and we shall see what is happening.'

I followed him out and we climbed upon the wall. And at the tip of the horizon, we could see the large pikes drawing closer like a bad cloud.

Baktria had come to us.

[General Appo]

Great story, keep it up Hax.

[Gebeleisis]

very good update ,bravo!

[Chirurgeon]

Gracious that was a fight. Phenomanal story!

[CaesarAugustus]

Megas Hax!!! Those Indians are awesome.

[Chaotix]

Nice AAR! Those are awesome swords that the Indian warriors fight with... hard to imagine anything beating them!

[Hax]

Megas Hax!!! Those Indians are awesome.

Nice AAR! Those are awesome swords that the Indian warriors fight with... hard to imagine anything beating them!

Hell yeah. I've seen them cut down an entire unit of Klerouchoi Phalanigitai while being undermanned

They had 220 men, I had 112 or something. Man, do they ROCK!

Okay, sleepz now, update tomorrow. I downloaded Rise of Persia at about 11 PM last night, and I've been playing it non-stop, kicking Athenian and Tarentine arse while playing as the 'TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL' faction. Awesome stuff, I recommend it. It's not quite the same as EB, but it's still pretty good!