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  1. #1
    Symbasileus ton Rhomaioktonon Member Maion Maroneios's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    A number would be fine Anyway, if you don't want to say, I understand :-P

    Maion
    ~Maion

  2. #2

    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Quote Originally Posted by Maion Maroneios View Post
    A number would be fine Anyway, if you don't want to say, I understand :-P

    Maion
    It's not like I didn't want to, I just can't. What is recently happening in the AAR is about ten years back in the game and I don't have a clue how much money I had back then.
    Short time after this I recruited my first elite units and elephants and later I've had something more than 100k at one time, but I usually try to spend my money on buildings. The theater is not the only top-level building I have in Seleukeia, for example, I just don't see a roleplay opportunity for every one of them.
    Read about glory and decline of the Seleucid Empire... (EB 1.1 AAR)

    from Satalexton from I of the Storm from Vasiliyi

  3. #3
    Misanthropos Member I of the Storm's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Ah, an update! Good to see.

    The theater is not the only top-level building I have in Seleukeia, for example, I just don't see a roleplay opportunity for every one of them.
    All those glamourous, sinfully expensive, high-end public order buildings and parks etc. are always good for conspirative meetings. Or showdowns.

  4. #4
    Symbasileus ton Rhomaioktonon Member Maion Maroneios's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Quote Originally Posted by Lysimachos View Post
    It's not like I didn't want to, I just can't. What is recently happening in the AAR is about ten years back in the game and I don't have a clue how much money I had back then.
    Short time after this I recruited my first elite units and elephants and later I've had something more than 100k at one time, but I usually try to spend my money on buildings. The theater is not the only top-level building I have in Seleukeia, for example, I just don't see a roleplay opportunity for every one of them.
    Aha, I see. That makes sense

    Maion
    ~Maion

  5. #5

    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Quote Originally Posted by I of the Storm View Post
    Ah, an update! Good to see.



    All those glamourous, sinfully expensive, high-end public order buildings and parks etc. are always good for conspirative meetings. Or showdowns.
    This is true. I think there will be some more opportunities then...

    Quote Originally Posted by Maion Maroneios View Post
    Aha, I see. That makes sense

    Maion
    Maybe I'll write down what I have now in the game and when I'm as far in the AAR I might tell you

    Btw, when beginning to write the next chapter I realized I have one unit of Argyraspides, so technically I already have an elite unit.
    Anyway, I'm full of anticipation for completing this chapter, because it will be an important and large one and I hope it might also become one of my best so far
    Back to work now
    Read about glory and decline of the Seleucid Empire... (EB 1.1 AAR)

    from Satalexton from I of the Storm from Vasiliyi

  6. #6

    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Here I am again and I think this is my longest chapter yet, although I made the last parts shorter than I originally intended to. Well, I guess I might have to answer some questions soon

    Chapter 29: The Hour of Steel and Blood

    So this is the day, Sarpedon thinks. He watches the Taxiarchai commanding their regiments in formation, arranging the Phalanx, Syntagma for Syntagma. He is not used to wearing armor but his smiths and tailors have done greatly in composing a military outfit for him.
    The silver-coated cuirass is finely crafted and highly ornamented. On the right it shows Apollon Argurotoxos - with the silver bow - in his personification as god of archery, armed with Hephaistos' bow slaying Python, the chtonic dragon. The left shows Apollon as Musagetes playing the Kithara, surrounded by his choir of Muses. Between them, upon the solar plexus, the sun disc is set in gold.
    From his shoulders falls a bright red cloak and for his head he has chosen the two-plumed helmet of the Hetairoi.
    Sarpedon is riding ahead of his sons and highest officers, inspecting the buildup of his battle line. He turns around, seemingly satisfied and looks over the plain in front of the host. To the south the Tigris is slowly flowing in eastern direction, before turning south where the land rises to the Zagros mountains. The terrain is flat except some small elevations and it becomes more marshy closer to the river itself.
    "Omanes!" he calls for his oldest son. "Yes, my father?" The addressee responds, lashing his mount to catch up.
    "You take the cavalry and proceed ahead of the main line. I don't want any surprises." Omanes straightens himself with the confidence of an adolescent who never had to experience failure. "Of course, my father, I won't disappoint you!"
    Sarpedon nods and looks to his younger son. "Athenaios, you stay with your brother. Heed his command." He is turning away, but stops and faces his son again. "And sit upright!" he snaps in a low, yet sharp voice.
    So this is the day. He was going to face his brother in battle. Ah! He should have known from the start that this narrow-minded Admiral wouldn't obey his orders. But did it really matter? What aces could remain in Antiochos' sleeve? A victory today and an easy victory against the rabble that his nephew gathered in the north and the kingdom would be his. Then, at last, it would have a prospect of being well-governed.

    A strong, black Arabian steed carries a tall man, wrapped in a blueish-gray cloak, unshaven and with disorderly hair. His carelessness however doesn't conceal the grandeur of his nobility, his uncompromising assertiveness and the muscular physique. The warrior-king is riding again.
    He is riding again and he has an army. He brought from Arabia as many troops as he could, who now form the core of the host, that has been bolstered with the Klerouchoi from Persis and Susiane and with local Psiloi. Not the best he could wish for, but the experience of his veterans and his own proficiency in leading them should be enough for any foe.
    "My Basileus?" With him is Antiochis, his cousin Andromachos' son. The king looks back, raising his eyebrows to signal his attention. The young relative is insecurely gnawing on his lip, as if considering the words to chose.
    "Basileus, if you don't mind me asking, how does it feel, riding to fight your own brother?"
    Theos silently gazes into Antiochis' eyes until the younger uncomfortably turns his eyes away. Then the king speaks, slowly and considerate. "When the day of battle comes, there is not time for feelings. When the horns of war call for slaughter it is the hour of steel and blood and not emotion. Victorious is he who doesn't fear, doesn't doubt, doesn't hesitate. The soldier may hate and lust, but never the commander, even when the dance of swords carries his body. Remember that."
    A voice raises nearby. "Sire! Cavalrymen ahead!" Antiochos' head wheels around and follows the pointing finger of the Hetairos. "There, below the trees."
    "I see. Prepare for engagement. We will offer a skirmish." - "Yes, Basileus!"
    Antiochos again faces the young man. "You take the lead of the Infantry. No hurry, no experiment. Just hold formation and proceed according to the plan." In Antiochis' eyes the surprise shows, suddenly being in command over thousands of men, but he soon finds back his countenance. "As you order, my king!"
    Antiochos Theos has deployed his cavalry on the right wing, because on the left, to the south, the ground near the Tigris is too soft to support horses at a steady speed, posing a reasonable defence against any mounted flanking. Now the king takes his riders forward and battle is imminent.



    Omanes watches the king's right wing separate and leave the infantry behind, approaching in trot: the Hetairoi, the chosen companions, Lonchophoroi, protected by the Aspis and Prodromoi, not heavily armored, but mounted on exceptionally fast and agile horses.
    Athenaios carefully voices his thoughts. "We should return now, brother. We are to far from the army, father would not want this."
    Omanes laughs out loud and pulls his horse around, jerking his heels in its flanks. "No! This will be my victory! My glory!" The fire of passion is burning in his eyes and he turns towards the approaching enemies, unsheathes the Kopis and pushes it into the sky.

    His brother's horsemen are swinging in and a smile of cold, superior confidence shows up on Antiochos' lips. "Those bloody fools," he mumbles before raising the voice: "Ready for charge!"
    The wind carries the shout far and a many-voiced exclamation answers his call, the heavy cavalrymen speeding their horses, closing the lines shoulder by shoulder and couching the lances, while the Prodromoi, slight statured men on fast horses, prepare to hunt down Omanes' Hippakontistai.
    Now the opponents' horses also accelerate to a tantivy. The horses are flying across the plain, hurling dust into the sky, the hard sound of their hooves hitting the ground unifying with the men's furious shouting and the mounts' nervous neighing in a thunderous cascade of noise.
    The lines collide in an explosive cracking of steel against steel, which makes place for the cries of pain and the frightened sounds of the men's mounts.
    Many have been unmounted in the powerful impact, riding without a saddle, and the cavalrymen's clash becomes a vicious melee - nothing left of the grandeur of mounted nobles - no! One thing already has been decided: This fight won't end as a skirmish, but when one side has ceased to stand.
    The king is still on his horse, blazing his trail with the Kopis like the mower cuts the grain with his scythe. His vengeance comes upon his foes - cold and motionless, but unforgiving - and he is barely noticing who is falling under his blade.



    The world turns silent around Omanes as he helplessly watches his brother collapse under a forceful blow. The Kopis slides from the young man's hand and he is grasping a Xyston, the fingers closing strongly around the trusty wooden shaft. The lance uplifted Omanes is stumbling across the fighting ground, towards the tall rider who just killed Athenaios with a slash off the cuff without even conceding him attention. Omanes is slowly, but irresistibly moving forward, the blood pounding in his temples, his eyes fixed on his aim. He is dropping his shield to grip the Xyston with both hands, preparing a powerful thrust. He is close, very close. An acute pain is hitting his left thigh. He has no time for pain and it is fading away, but the leg is giving in and the thrust misses. The Xyston's point is deflected by the king's muscled cuirass, its edge leaving a small cut on the inside of Antiochos' upper arm.
    Omanes is on his knee, breathing heavily. He is preparing the next thrust, when his eyes meet Antiochos' gaze. The king's cold, piercing glance is perturbing, the calmness in the face of death even more so. Omanes is hesitating, before he raises the weapon.
    But he has waited to long. A hand is grasping his hair, pulling his head backwards. He feels the shock of cold steel at his throat. He is gasping for air and he doesn't know why he can't breath. Then the pain is over, sensation has gone and his body is caving in, gushes of blood running from the deep cut in his throat in the rhythm of his heart's last beats.



    Not many of Omanes' soldiers live to escape, chased away by Antiochos' Prodromoi, not enough to make a difference at another time. Already the scales have almost been tipped in the king's favor, when the wounded retire to the camp or after receiving basic treatment return to the right wing, for there is still a battle to be won.
    Antiochos, now clearly superior in terms of cavalry, has chosen a conventional lineup. About two thirds of his infantry form the phalanx: to the left the Klerouchoi from Persis and Susiane and to the right the veteran Pezhetairoi, who fought under his command in the campaign to Hierosolyma and later in Arabia. Among them, the guard troops, the Argyraspides, hold the position of honor at the right edge of the Phalanx.
    The last third of the king's infantry are Psiloi, light infantry. They are mostly Persians, armed with bows and varying quality of armor. Their numbers are complemented by slingers and a compartment of experienced Toxotai Kretikoi.
    The main disadvantage of Antiochos' army is the lack of any heavy infantry or other mobile, but capable of melee, footsoldiers.
    Across the field the king's brother has to rely heavily on his spearmen, now that he lost most of his cavalry, as he commands considerable numbers of well-armored Thorakitai and Thureophoroi as well as jewish and babylonian spearmen.

    The battle lines stand ready, huge blocks of pikemen slowly closing in to the marching music of the Auletai. The Phalanx is the heart of a successor army, its most important part. The decision, however, will be made on the flanks and both generals know this and both have to take a risk in order to succeed.
    The opening move in the struggle for the flanks comes from Antiochos. He has to move first, because he has to be quick, as his left flank is protected by not much more than the soft and not easily passable bankside terrain of the Tigris. His Hetairoi and Lonchophoroi encounter Sarpedon's Thureophoroi, who have been put here to hold the left, assisted by the remaining cavalry and the Peltasts, while the king's brother sends his heaviest troops, the Thorakitai, together with the Babylonians to attack on the river side.
    The king, having suffered only a small cut in the preceding fight, is again leading his men at the front, while his brother is trying to retain the overview.

    Antiochos knows the steadfastness and proficiency of the Thureophoroi, so he decides to fully exploit the enemies' lack of cavalry, by dividing his own heavy horsemen in three compartments, that repeatedly charge from different directions into the spearmen's defensive position, thus weakening them more and more without getting drawn into a lasting melee.
    At the southern flank Sarpedon's Thorakitai and Iudaioi viciously attack the Klerouchoi, inflicting serious casualties to them, while the Babylonians are making their way even farther out to reach the back of Antiochos' formation, but they are not able to proceed fast and suffer greatly under concerted pounding by the Persian bowmen and slingers, while the king's Cretans get the upper hand in their ranged duel against Sarpedon's Syrians.
    Finally, the Babylonians have come around the southern flank, but they see themselves unable to attack the back of the Phalanx, being threatened by the numerous Psiloi and the Prodromoi, who have been held in reserve, so they decide to rather flee into the dense sea of reed, abandoning what had been planned for them to avoid demise.
    At this moment, Sarpedon's battle plans seem to be doomed: his own flanking maneuver severely weakened by the flight of the Babylonians, while the Thureophoroi and Peltastai no longer can resist the charges of Antiochos' heavy cavalry and the Argyraspides at the very right of the Phalanx get the better of their opponents, the gain of the Thorakitai in the south becoming in vain.
    After the line starts crumbling, a determined strike of all reserves is enough to turn a close fight into total destruction.



    Once again the king was victorious and his brother's army has suffered obliteration, but the traitor's body has not been found...
    Read about glory and decline of the Seleucid Empire... (EB 1.1 AAR)

    from Satalexton from I of the Storm from Vasiliyi

  7. #7
    Symbasileus ton Rhomaioktonon Member Maion Maroneios's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Wow, that was a very intense chapter! My sincere congratulations

    Maion
    ~Maion

  8. #8

    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Quote Originally Posted by Maion Maroneios View Post
    Wow, that was a very intense chapter! My sincere congratulations

    Maion
    Thank you very much! I have a slight bad conscience though, because originally I wanted to describe the main part of the battle from Sarpedon's view, between hope and realization of defeat, but I got something like a "lazy-flash" and I just wanted to post it without separating one battle into two chapters.
    Read about glory and decline of the Seleucid Empire... (EB 1.1 AAR)

    from Satalexton from I of the Storm from Vasiliyi

  9. #9
    EB TRIBVNVS PLEBIS Member MarcusAureliusAntoninus's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Legacy of Megas Alexandros - a seleucid AAR

    Quote Originally Posted by Maion Maroneios View Post
    Wow, that was a very intense chapter! My sincere congratulations
    Indeed. A very good chapter.


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