[Epeiros/Pergamon AAR] Philetairos' Gift

[Swordmaster]

Your campaign is really an inspiration to mine, if you know what I mean. (If you don't, you'll know soon enough .)

Oh, and those were some of the coolest screens you've taken so far. Keep it up.

[Gurkhan]

Great AAR man, although all the FD makes it seem like you are trying to play all factions at once. This is not how I play the game, but it makes for interesting reading! A word to the wise, you cannot move anything to cape Horn as South America is not on the map. Keep a postin'"!!

[Swordmaster]

Great AAR man, although all the FD makes it seem like you are trying to play all factions at once. This is not how I play the game, but it makes for interesting reading! A word to the wise, you cannot move anything to cape Horn as South America is not on the map. Keep a postin'"!!

You're right, we're confusing it with the Horn of Africa.

[QuintusSertorius]

Dark Clouds on the Horizon



There was perhaps something portentous in the arrival of two messengers to Amantieus' camp at almost the same time, from opposite directions. From the east came word from his scouts that two Seleukid armies had been spotted. From the west came a messenger from the capital - the Basilieu Ptolemaios had died in his sleep a few nights before. He was now king, but if he couldn't defend the kingdom titles would mean nothing.

Spies in the Pontic court told him their ruler was looking covetously at Bithynia and had even mobilised an army to take advantage of Pergamon's occupation with the Seleukids. Indeed the two powers had only recently concluded a peace treaty ending their own war, and who knew what secret accords had been agreed there. Carving up Pergamon between themselves, perhaps?

His first act as king was to pardon both Messaneos in the Bosphorous and Atintan in Mikra Skythia. He requested that Antintan board ship with the northern army to defend Bithynia against possible Pontic invasion, while he would deal with the Seleukids.

He had a horrible feeling he had many years in the saddle ahead of him.

222BC:



Again saved by the watchtowers, and a spy I had lingering in Pontos, looks like I'm about to be double-teamed by two factions. I can only hope the Aedui won't take too kindly to that stack trying to pass through Galatia, given they've got the numbers to destroy it. Pontos is more of a worry, that's a proper full stack, although there's a lot of levy hoplites and native spearmen in there. Not great cavalry either, but Atintan's cavalry is being raised/retrained in Byzantion. Just him and an FM from Pergamon if he's attacked at the river crossing. I'll send the navy up to blockade their capital if they do attack.

Equally worrying the Ptolemies (no longer my allies...) just signed a ceasefire with the Seleukids. I'm hoping the Getai or Makedonians don't use the shifting of my forces out of Europe as an excuse to attack. Tylis has a strong garrison and good commander, but Kallatis and Byzantion aren't so strong.

The Romans are spreading out along the coast, Pahlava are bigger thanks to some FD action from me. They were getting on with expanding far too slowly for my liking. And not just because I want the Seleukids weaker.

I've got Pantikapaion under siege, I was able to move almost all of the mercenary army out of Chersonesos. Might be a slow one because it's got a full stack and stone walls.

Your campaign is really an inspiration to mine, if you know what I mean. (If you don't, you'll know soon enough .)

Oh, and those were some of the coolest screens you've taken so far. Keep it up.

I do think I'm getting better at taking interesting ones that show both at the high level, and up close what's going on.

Great AAR man, although all the FD makes it seem like you are trying to play all factions at once. This is not how I play the game, but it makes for interesting reading! A word to the wise, you cannot move anything to cape Horn as South America is not on the map. Keep a postin'"!!

If you think that's a lot of FD, you should have seen my Roman campaign. I'm doing relatively little of it in this one by comparison. My most recent bit of it was giving Zadrakata and Hekatompylos to Pahlava to kickstart their expansion into Seleukid territory.

Oh, failure of basic geography.

You're right, we're confusing it with the Horn of Africa.

Aye, that's what I meant.

[Tyrfingr]

I see that "Galatia" was created after all, nice :)

[QuintusSertorius]

I see that "Galatia" was created after all, nice :)

Not entirely my doing, either. Pontos or the Seleukids (can't remember which it was, now) took it, but then it rebelled almost immediately to the Aedui. Since then I've been spawning them troops there to keep it safe, thus the full stacks hanging around.

[QuintusSertorius]

Haven't played for a few days because I simply haven't had the time between work and family stuff, but the game is not dead.

I've been doing some thinking about some more house-rules to make things more challenging. I've already stopped retraining; what I do is have a "reinforcement unit" to merge into losses, then if there's any of that left I retrain it - but of course it never retains higher experience than I can recruit.

Now I'm thinking I need to stop targeting enemy generals, and even actively avoid killing them if I can. In my battles with the Seleukids, I've killed nine of their FMs, including their Faction Heir at one point (though he died during a siege blockade). While they can afford to soak up the losses, it does make battles easy once the general is dead, where even elites break.

Thoughts?

[Poulp']

unless said FM charge home into your phalanxes.

at least, don't target him with your shooters, and maybe tweak the files so that AI FMs get more hp...

[QuintusSertorius]

unless said FM charge home into your phalanxes.

at least, don't target him with your shooters, and maybe tweak the files so that AI FMs get more hp...

I don't have any phalanxes.

Not about to tweak the files - one of the reasons they reduced the bodyguard hit points in the first place was to curtail the AI's suicide charges. More hit points makes it worse, not better.

[Poulp']

I don't have any phalanxes.

Not about to tweak the files - one of the reasons they reduced the bodyguard hit points in the first place was to curtail the AI's suicide charges. More hit points makes it worse, not better.

I thought there was a way to give pore hp to the FM only, and leaving his bodyguards at one hp.
too bad.

[Swordmaster]

I've never tried to target the enemy general in battles, nor do I make special efforts to avoid killing him. In the end it makes for a good balance where at times he dies relatively early, at other times quite late.

[QuintusSertorius]

But this is contradictory with the Hellenistic tradition. Remember Alexander battle plans where focused on neutralizing the enemy commander. If you need a house rule to make battles more challenging, then try always fighting outnumbered. After all, your kingdom, historically, was the minor player among three great empires.

Perhaps, but there's all kinds of issues with the AI that prevent just looking at it through a historical lens. I often bump up their stacks to give them both more numbers and balance, so I should continue doing that. They're particularly bad for not recruiting any cavalry, or using crappy archers who can't hurt my some of my skirmishers, never mind threatening the line.

I'm thinking perhaps as an exception to the "avoid killing the general", I'll let my FMs target them, since they we've both got a leader at risk.

I thought there was a way to give pore hp to the FM only, and leaving his bodyguards at one hp.
too bad.

He and his officer models will have more hitpoints than the bodyguard anyway - that's hardcoded. His being based on his traits. But it doesn't really matte in a lot of respects, once his bodyguard is dead, he's a sitting duck and it's just a matter of time before he's either killed or makes a break for it (and may be killed on the run if you've got fast light cavalry).

I've never tried to target the enemy general in battles, nor do I make special efforts to avoid killing him. In the end it makes for a good balance where at times he dies relatively early, at other times quite late.

Perhaps, and there are those which really do turn on killing the general. As in I'm struggling through while he's alive, and his death is what makes victory possible, rather than heading for defeat. But sometimes he does die far too early which almost makes the result a foregone conclusion.

[QuintusSertorius]

Second Seleukid War, 222BC

King Amantieus remained in the high passes of the Tauros mountains even as autumn turned to winter and the snow began to set in. The threat from the Seleukids had not passed with one battle, there were other armies moving around the Pergamene border. He only hoped Atintan knew what he was doing in the north.

While blocking the pass he fended off two Seleukid armies. The first was led by Neolaus Aigon Aiolikon, a very young general. Perhaps the losses in the officer cadre from the last war had not yet been made good with new aristocratic soldiers. They were evenly matched, though the Pergamenes had the more balanced force.



Amantieus was keen to get some high ground.



Both armies advanced to meet each other.



A skirmisher's eye view.



The Syrians had an imposing wall of pikes in their centre.



Aiolikon charged the left flank.



Patron Byllideus watched for a time, then spurred his cavalry away from the melee to circle around. Aiolikon, seeing his move turned around and charged.



Byllideus kicked his horse into the fray, seeking out Aiolikon in personal combat. The rest of his cavalry he dispatched to drive off the Seleukid horse.



The was contact all along the line.



Amantieus led some Karians to outflank on the right.



Meanwhile in the combat of bodyguard-against-bodyguard, Aiolikon fell.



At first the battle carried on regardless.



But then units began to flee.



As the cavalry began to charge to the rear, more units joined the flight.



The elites in the centre fought on.



But soon it was a general rout.



With relatively few men killed or wounded, Amantieus had won. But now he had to prepare for the arrival of another army.



The second force came on much as the first did, and was not as well-led. They were fewer in number and had even less cavalry.



They were beaten as well, their commander dying in the rout.



Editorial note

I did actually try not to kill the enemy general in the first battle, I only had Byllideus fight with him. The Curepos struggled a little on their own against the Lonchophoroi Hippeis, but eventually their greater stamina and ability to run away while throwing javelins, along with experience told.

The second battle was almost like a re-run of the first, which is why I didn't go into detailed captures. They had more missile troops, but a pathetic main line. Without even killing their general a lot of it was routed.

Byllideus is proving to be a lethal leader of horse. As an FM he's hopeless, Dull/Uncharismatic/Vigorous, with no Command, Management or Influence levels at all. But he's tough and can fight.

[Timoleon]

Now I'm thinking I need to stop targeting enemy generals, and even actively avoid killing them if I can.

But this is contradictory with the Hellenistic tradition. Remember Alexander battle plans where focused on neutralizing the enemy commander. If you need a house rule to make battles more challenging, then try always fighting outnumbered. After all, your kingdom, historically, was the minor player among three great empires.