Interactive Romani AAR.

[Ghaust the Moor]

Arnza Perperna Stands:


"I agree with Marcus Rufus. The Barbarians are beneath us. Let them kill each other off, and then strike when one is weakend from the fight. The position to the north should be be fortified, as to protect in case the Gauls attack, but I believe that that is not likely. They are proud and quick to temper, so fighting amongst themselves is enevitable. (spelling?)"

Arnza sits again.


*Boo yeah first post!*

[penguinking]

Quintus Livius Postumus speaks.

"The rest of the senate has convinced me- allying with the Gauls is unnecessary, so long as a rough balance of power is maintained in Gaul. We don't want any tribe to become too powerful. Unless there appears to be an immediate danger of that happening, there is no need to ally with these barbarians."

[the man with no name]

(Julius Ceaser stands)

Let us take over the towns of Segesta and Patavium, for i feel our legions are up to the task. Then we will have the entire italian peninsula under our control.

(sits down)

[johnhughthom]

Sorry, guys my Steam went belly up so I had to reinstall everything from scratch and lost the saves for this. I have an idea though, I uploaded a save to filefront months ago from my Romani AAR, it's 240 BC with the whole of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Massalia under Roman control. I have literally no proper armies so the make up of Legions could be up for discussion as well as foreign policy. Basically my AAR had the previous Legions wiped out by Gauls so we could roleplay from there.
You can keep the same character, just use what happened before as a test run. Let me know what you all think and sorry once again, bloody Steam... You know I have had literally dozens of EB campaigns and the only time I ever get any problems is when I try an AAR, I think I'm cursed.

[Ghaust the Moor]

I don't think it makes much of a difference. Just forget all of what happended previously, and we can act like we are a newly elected senate and are building upon the choices already made by the previous senate (you)

[johnhughthom]

There is a shot of the world and we have over half a million in the bank, so money isn't a problem. It's 240BC, Gauls have wiped out the entire Roman army, Ligurians guard all the Alpine passes but that is all we have. Polybian barracks are being built, it will be two years before they are ready. Southern Italy and Sicily can give us Greek auxilaries, northern Italy Gallic auxilaries. Cotta, the starting character, is current Consul (and triumpher over the Carthaginians) and the two Scipios are still alive but that is all we have in terms of good generals. The First Punic War went pretty much according to history. We should discuss how our new Legions should be made up, also what allies we should us. How many Legions will we need? Should we seek revenge against the Gauls or look elsewhere?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This may be better actually, more room for roleplay now. Starting in 272 doesn't really give you many options. If it wasn't for the fact I have to download Empire again I may have said Steam steaming out on me wasn't such a bad thing.

[Vasiliyi]

Varinius Glabrus stands to address the senate.

"My dear senators. We may have lost a great deal of men in Gaul, but we are not defeated. That said, I believe we should stay clear of Gaul at all costs. The land there is pitiful and they are an extremely ferocious people, they will not be easy to subjegate. Perhaps, we can turn our attention to Spain? Many a merchants have returned from there praising the land with its rich minerals full of gold and silver.

Upon building our needed barracks I think we should definatly create 3 legion.

Legio I
Stationed in Sicily
1 polybian equites
1 hastati
1 princepe
1 trarii

Legio II
Stationed in Mediolanum, to defend us from marauding gauls.
2 Hastati
2 Princepe
1 Trarii
1 Equite,
Possibly some regional troops such as the ligurians.

Legio III
Our marching army, which is to be sent at our enemies
4 hastati
4 princepe
2 Trarii
1 equites
1 Pedites extrodinarri
1 Gen
(as many regionals as needed)

This ofcourse my senators is up to debate, and my claims are not to be taken against me.

(sorry for long post)

[Ghaust the Moor]

Anrza stands to make himself heard:


"I second the motion concerning the matter of the gauls and the legions. But I must disagree with the idea of conquering spain. It is indeed a rich land, but if we attack we will be dealing with more barbarians. And even if we manage to conquer all of Iberia, we will still have to deal with the gauls to the north. We will also be forced to recruit, many more legions to keep the Gauls at bay. I feel we will be over extending ourselves. We should, however, attack across the Adriatic at the dalmatian coast. It is only ruled by a few petty kingdoms and should be no problem to subjugate with one legion."


Arnza sits, having completed his first speech as a senator.

[Vasiliyi]

Varinius Glabrus stands agian, giving Anrza a look.

"One legion to conquer the Balkans? Are you mad? I tell you my friend, I fear nothing, but the phalanxes of the diodachi are powerful and it will take many years and men to subjugate them. Instead, why don't we take 2 legions to Spain, attack them from 2 different directions and force them under our yoke. One smaller legion can be posted between Gaul and Spain to defend it. I see no problem here."


(not being a jerk here, just roleplaying)

[johnhughthom]

(not being a jerk here, just roleplaying)

Jerkiness is positively encouraged in this AAR.
There are an awful lot of these interactive AARs now, maybe too many.

[the man with no name]

Jerkiness is positively encouraged in this AAR.
There are an awful lot of these interactive AARs now, maybe too many.

You maybe right

Varinius Glabrus stands agian, giving Anrza a look.

"One legion to conquer the Balkans? Are you mad? I tell you my friend, I fear nothing, but the phalanxes of the diodachi are powerful and it will take many years and men to subjugate them. Instead, why don't we take 2 legions to Spain, attack them from 2 different directions and force them under our yoke. One smaller legion can be posted between Gaul and Spain to defend it. I see no problem here."

Varinius Glabrus stands to address the senate.

"My dear senators. We may have lost a great deal of men in Gaul, but we are not defeated. That said, I believe we should stay clear of Gaul at all costs. The land there is pitiful and they are an extremely ferocious people, they will not be easy to subjegate. Perhaps, we can turn our attention to Spain? Many a merchants have returned from there praising the land with its rich minerals full of gold and silver.

Upon building our needed barracks I think we should definatly create 3 legion.

Legio I
Stationed in Sicily
1 polybian equites
1 hastati
1 princepe
1 trarii

Legio II
Stationed in Mediolanum, to defend us from marauding gauls.
2 Hastati
2 Princepe
1 Trarii
1 Equite,
Possibly some regional troops such as the ligurians.

Legio III
Our marching army, which is to be sent at our enemies
4 hastati
4 princepe
2 Trarii
1 equites
1 Pedites extrodinarri
1 Gen
(as many regionals as needed)

This ofcourse my senators is up to debate, and my claims are not to be taken against me.

"I second this notion except to maybe have a couple more units in Legio I and Legio II, in case there is a more suprising force sent against us."

[Karo]

Marcus Iulius Rufus stands up
"I agree with the plan for the legions, but the idea to attack the Balkans with one legion is stupid. Do you want to sacrifice our men for nothing. Is this what you want? And I think we should attack Spain and conquer it. Those lands are very rich and those mines will be a very great help when we are going to attack Hellas and conquer it."

Sits back down

[Vasiliyi]

Varinius Glabrus stands once more, smiling with his success.

"Thank you senators for supporting me. Anrza, the will of the senate and your will seems to not match. Greece would be too difficult to subjegate, surely you see this now?" Turning to the julius, "My dear friend, what do we have to fear from sicily? The legion should remain small, It will help us save money, and yet we can call a large number of troops from the Peninsula at a moments notice. We have no notion of rebellion, and there seems to be no one capable of attacking it by see, as such an endaever would be very costly." This time he turns to the man in charge of Rome "My dear man, you failed to mention what our relations with Kart-Hadast are. Are they still angry with our expansion into their sphere? Or are they willing to accept trade with us again? I think Trade right, if we don't have them, should definately be pursued."

Smiles at all the Senators, and sits.

[Ghaust the Moor]

Anrza stands again

"It appears the senate misunderstood me. I have no intention of conquering greece, or the balkans for that matter. I speak of capturing the dalmatian coast. This will finally rid us of those Illyrian pirates and will allow us a sutable launching point with which to attack the greeks at a future date. I don't think conquering greece would be a sutable thing to do right now. We should focus on extending our power south, and fortifying our position to the north."

Anrza sits once more.

[johnhughthom]

This time he turns to the man in charge of Rome.

There isn't really anybody in charge of Rome, at times I will try to have people with enough "gravitas" to dominate the Senate and use as a focal point but he won't actually be "in charge."
Sorry if I have neglected this the last few days I have been busy in work, (will be for another week ) I intend to try to get it up and running over the next few days. Some of you may have noticed I resurrected my old Romani AAR, I will run it concurrently with this from the same save. Don't worry though, the decisions you guys make will stick, I won't do things to suit the other AAR (who knows some of your characters may get into "Life of a Roman" or my character from that may appear here).





The Senate Building Rome, 412 AUC.


The Senate is it's usual noisy self, Senators talk, argue, complain and shout amongst each other. All that is missing is laughter, there has been precious little of that in Rome lately. The noise ceases almost instantly as two men stride into the building. "I thought they were still in Massalia!" one Senator exclaims, shocked to see them here. The two men talk lightly, the younger man gestures to the other to take the rostrum, "No, you are Consul. You go." The younger man nods and takes to the stand. He looks around the building and Caius Aurelius Cotta, hero of Rome, triumpher over Carthage addresses his peers.

"Senators, on the way to the Senate I spoke to some friends regarding what has gone one here, it seems there is wisdom but little leadership. Scipio and I have returned to Rome to try to help you lead us out of this dark chapter in our history. There are decisions we have to make, difficult choices to overcome, but we will overcome.
Scipio and I have spoken at length about the make up of our legions, did some weakness help lead to the Disaster? We believe the Legions must be uniform, Legio I must be the same as Legio IV, our allies we can pick and choose but part of our success has been a general can take any Legion and he will know what he has. Unfortunately Scipio and I don't agree on how the Legions should be made up. I prefer to have Legions in pairs, each has 1 Accensii, 1 Velites, 1 Hastati and 1 Principe with 1 Triarii shared between them, the ranking man will take the Triarii if they split forces. Scipio prefers a Legion to be 1 Accensii, 2 Velites, 2 Hastati, 2 Principe and 1 Triarii. You my friends need to decide whether Rome implements the Cottan Legion or the Scipione Legion. We also fail to agree on how many we will need, I feel four he feels three. In terms of were they are stationed we agree one needs to remain in Sicily, our client rulers there are getting old. Progression to a new government can be upsetting to a populace so a Legion will need to maintain order. As to where the other go that will be down to yourselves.
So then I propose each man states whether he prefers the Cottan or Scipione Legion, how many we need and how we send them out, of course for the next few years they will need to stay in Italy to keep order in these dark times. Please feel free to suggest alternatives to our proposals, as Senators of Rome we are sure you will not be shy about doing so"

[Ghaust the Moor]

Anrza stands to address the senate.

"Much apologies consul, but I feel that the Scipione legion is the best fit for our uses.The consuls choice is a very weak force and if a large enough enemy attacks, we will suffer. I believe we should go with four legions, like the consul suggested however. This will allow for quicker expansion, and give us more of a chance at victory. I feel that one legion should sail for Dalmion and crush the pirates. Then the other two legions will expand north into Gaul. At the first available moment the first legion will rejoin the second and third. Now, those are my thoughts on the matter. Please let me know if I misunderstood anything. (I think I did)"

Senator Perperna sits once more.

[johnhughthom]

Just to clarify, I personally use the "Cottan Legion" for my Polybian forces as I feel the "Scipione" style makes the game too easy. I also only ever use FMs as my Roman cavalry, I have never, and hope I never will, purchased any Equites, disbanding the starting equites is always my first move in a Romani campaign. Of course if your Senators feel we need equites feel free to propose it, just don't expect me to use them well!
As I mentioned before my Polybian barracks are two year away, so I will roleplay the Legions were raised but just stayed in Italy. Keeping a Legion in Sicily is also not required gameplay wise, but I generally like to RP Legions peacekeeping in a region as it keeps you from blitzing.



Scipio rises to address Anrza,

"My friend I don't know you but yours is one of the voices of wisdom Cotta mentioned we were told of on our arrival back in Rome. I have to say, though, the idea of sending men into Gaul is a foolhardy one. We have just had the greatest setback in the history of Rome, caused by expanding into Gaul without due care. I have loyal people in Massalia forging ties with the Gauls. They don't trust us, nor should they, but we need to think long term. Rushing headlong into an attack on Gaul didn't work before so why would it work now? Rome will have her revenge on the Gauls, perhaps not in my lifetime but it wll come. I foresee a day when every living Gaul will live under the banner of the SPQR. That day will come my friends, but not through rash actions only through acting on the knowledge it will take years to obtain. My Ligurian men guarding the alpine passes have mentioned word of another group of men slowly spreading toward the mountains, the Germans they are called and they make the Gauls look positively civilized. I fear these men will be our worry in the next few years, not the Gauls.
As for your other ideas, certainly moving into the Illyrians provinces could be a good idea and not only to punish those pirates. I have heard stories of the mines in the region. Interesting stories. Of course we have all heard the same stories about Hispania, so it seems to me one of those should be our objective. Illyria will bring us into the Hellene sphere of influence, Hispania the Punic. I believe war is inevitable in either theatre but personally lean toward sending our forces west to Hispania."

[Ghaust the Moor]

Alright. Thanks for that.


Anrza stands to revoice his answers:


"Consul, I have had a change of heart. I see the error of my plan and, after mulling it over, have decided that the Cottan legion would better suit our plans. Attacking Gaul is, as I now see, a wrong choice. I do maintain to attack Illyria however. I think it has much value, economicly and stratigicly. It will give us a foothold with which to launch a counter-attack on the hellenes, lest they attack. I think attacking spain is over extending ourselves though. If we suffer a major defeat to the carthaginians, we will not be able to get reinforcements there in time to help. Thus said, I feel we set three legions off for Illyria, while one maintains itself in sicily. "


Arnza sits.

[johnhughthom]

I'm perfectly happy to go with the Scipione style if that's what the Senate wants, I only mentioned it to let you now what my personal play style is. I have a lot of houserules, not all of them good for an AAR. Part of the reasoning behind this is to actually have a different experience with my Romani campaign, so please, don't be afraid to stick to your guns if I disagree with something you say!

[Ghaust the Moor]

I'm perfectly happy to go with the Scipione style if that's what the Senate wants, I only mentioned it to let you now what my personal play style is. I have a lot of houserules, not all of them good for an AAR. Part of the reasoning behind this is to actually have a different experience with my Romani campaign, so please, don't be afraid to stick to your guns if I disagree with something you say!

Well, it just that, this way, there can be more in the future, and they will be cheaper than with the Scipione. And when you said you don't like blitzing, the larger forces are more useful for that, and since you don't do that, you don't need to waste money. I didn't think about that until after you said those things.

[Vasiliyi]

Once again, Varinius stands to attack Anrza,

"My dear senators, I have finally figured out why this man, (pointing at Anrza) wants to attack the dalmation coast! Its those pretty greek boys he misses! (there is a uproar of laughter and muttering in the crowd) Well rest assured, Anrza, I will go out and buy you one of those greek boys this very day, and you desire to attack the hellenes will subside, as you, well, get to know the boy. (more laughter) Now, to be serious, let us consider the matter at hand. Spain, full of barbarians which can be subjegated and enslaved. Their mines are more plentiful that the balkans, and would be easier to defend. If we attack dalmatia, on the other hand, this will cause tensions to rise not only between Eperios, but makedonia, and the Koinon hellen. Not to mention, they are not "petty kindoms" but are truly growing kindoms. They have phalanxes, and many consripts that would make attacking them, very painful."
He looks at Scipio and Cotta and addresses them.

"Great saviors of Rome! How good of you all to come to this meeting and speak some sense into these men, myself including. I have to favor the scipoan legion as it will give us not only a numeric advantage over our enemy, but would also be flexible in its plans. If, lets say there are 2 forces threatening us, The Scipionan legion can split up and equal the same strength as the Cottian. Gentlemen, our coffers are overflowing, why shall we be scimpy on our defence? Thank you all for listening"

Varinius sits down and chuckles to himself, remembering his joke.


P.S. Dude, i dont mean to offend you, just rping. I would actually prefer if we argued a bit, and not always agreed. makes things interesting.

[the man with no name]

Julius Ceaser stands

"Consul, i would have to favor the Scipioan legion becacause aas said before, it gives us a numerical advantage but i also feel we require 4 legions, 1 for sicily 2 for spain and 1 for defense against Gauls."

sits down

Once again, Varinius stands to attack Anrza,

"My dear senators, I have finally figured out why this man, (pointing at Anrza) wants to attack the dalmation coast! Its those pretty greek boys he misses! (there is a uproar of laughter and muttering in the crowd) Well rest assured, Anrza, I will go out and buy you one of those greek boys this very day, and you desire to attack the hellenes will subside, as you, well, get to know the boy. (more laughter) Now, to be serious, let us consider the matter at hand. Spain, full of barbarians which can be subjegated and enslaved. Their mines are more plentiful that the balkans, and would be easier to defend. If we attack dalmatia, on the other hand, this will cause tensions to rise not only between Eperios, but makedonia, and the Koinon hellen. Not to mention, they are not "petty kindoms" but are truly growing kindoms. They have phalanxes, and many consripts that would make attacking them, very painful."
He looks at Scipio and Cotta and addresses them.

"Great saviors of Rome! How good of you all to come to this meeting and speak some sense into these men, myself including. I have to favor the scipoan legion as it will give us not only a numeric advantage over our enemy, but would also be flexible in its plans. If, lets say there are 2 forces threatening us, The Scipionan legion can split up and equal the same strength as the Cottian. Gentlemen, our coffers are overflowing, why shall we be scimpy on our defence? Thank you all for listening"

Varinius sits down and chuckles to himself, remembering his joke.


P.S. Dude, i dont mean to offend you, just rping. I would actually prefer if we argued a bit, and not always agreed. makes things interesting.

Love this (lol) I imagine 'What is love' playing in the backround or maybe 'Never gonna give you up'

[Ghaust the Moor]

Arnza stands and glares at Varinius


"Oh, Varinius. Now such insults have no place in the senate. But since you all are on the subject of questioning my sexuality, Varinius...Don't even get us started about yours (The Senate chuckles). I am sure all of us have heard about the fiasco with you and the Gallic boy, Lugotorix was his name? Tis a shame...He'll never be able to go home a man again. (The Senate laughs erupt again). Now, back to the matter at hand. My personal feelings on the matter, concerning the legions is this. The Consul should decide. He is the one who will be leading them, and thus he should decide. We are not the ones who will be commanding it. Every Consul should be able to reform the legions as he sees fit.

Arnza sits again, happy with his jest.

(The reason I was thinking that, is so it will be like a reform every time you get a new Consul)

[Vasiliyi]

Varinius smiles, standing up looking at Anrza,

"Oh yes, but can we ever call those Gauls men? I thought they were beasts. Anyways, If we give that much power to the consul, won't we see that the legions will begin to serve them, and not the senate?"

[johnhughthom]

The Senate Building, Rome. 245 AUC.

Lucius Cornelius Scipio arrives to address the Senate.


Friends, it seems our enforced exile from world affairs is ready to end. The Legions are once again confident enough to take on the world, the Gallic Disaster will go down as a blip in Rome's inexorable rise to world domination. In the three years since the loss of our Legions you men here have shown wisdom and leadership, choosing the Scipione style of Legion and choosing to increase our forces will no doubt be viewed by history as a wise choice.
Legio I is currently stationed in Sicily, it will continue peacekeeping operations and ensure the grain is despatched safely. Legio II is in northern Italia. The Gallic horde who slaughtered our Ligurian watchmen and dared to seige the city of Mediolanium fled without a fight when Cotta arrived. If I may add, in a moment of fatherly pride, my son, Numerius, is acting as legate to Cotta. Learning from the best, I have no doubt he will be leading Romes Legion's himself someday. Legio III and IV are awaiting orders. The consensus seems to be Spain, and sending two Legions there. I would like to take this moment to second Senator Arnza's proposal we take the Dalmation coast. I have changed my mind that Hispania is the superior point to send our Legions. The reason? Simple, I believe we need two Legions in northern Italia. I am told the Gauls are getting restless and my sources suggest Germanic tribes are moving south. That would only leave one Legion, not enough for an expedition to Hispania but surely enough to pacify some pirates. As always the choice is yours my friends, it seems you all wish to find the truth in the rumours of gold in the west, my role is to advise and inform not to decide.

One more thing I would like your input on is the allies we should bring with our Legions. You are all experienced men, who have you fought with that impressed you? Who didn't impress you? Are there any weaknesses in our forces certain allies can cover for? Legio II has a medium sized allied contingent:some gallic slingers, some greek skirmisher, a number of hoplites from Massalia, gallic spearmen, Illyrian scum and Campanian cavalry. Our other allies need to be determined.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I prefer not to hire mercs unless I have RPing reason, eg the Massalian allies, as it takes them away from the AI. Which needs all the help it can get. If you feel there are certain mercs worthwhile though I will hire them. Quite partial to Cretan Archers and Balearic Slingers myself.

Some of you have asked about our political and financial status. We are allied with the Lusotannan tribe in Hispania, that alliance must be considered in any attempt to move into that region. Also the Arverni Gallic tribe, they are in a civil war with the Aedui, who we believe perpetrated the Gallic disaster. Perhaps funding these men would leave us free to concentrate on other spheres, let the barabarians fight each other. Finally we are also allied with a confederation of Germanic tribes, we hope this is of help with the tribes moving south but it may not be enough to hold them over the mountains. I believe I forgot to answer a question on our status with Carthage, we do indeed have trade rights with them, this was part of the terms of their surrender. We should also consider this when we contemplate future actions, the main reason for our financial situation is the generous trading terms we negotiated with them. The Punic conflict was started over an insult to Rome's honour, unless they threaten us in some way in the future I see no reason to seek conflict again. We also have trading agreements with all the major nations.

Our financial position is very healthy, even the fortune we spent rebuilding and re-equipping our army has had little effect on the states income. We will easily be able to afford a four Legion army, and our navy of two Trireme fleets and one Quadrime fleet can also be afforded. In fact we may look to upgrade our Triremes to Quadririmes, the difference we saw in the Punic conflict was immense.


Thank you for your time gentlemen, I leave you to your deliberations.

[Maion Maroneios]

Wow, that's a lot of cash Let's see how this will turn out And no, I won't flame you. I promised the Nice Fairy I will be a good marionette, then maybe she'll turn me into a boy.

Maion

[johnhughthom]

I know it's been mentioned before but anybody following this and liking the concept should check out BtSH https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=264 a Romani PBM. It's basically like this except you pick an actual in game character and debate and make decisions in the forum then act it out in EB. There is a lot of opportunity for fun roleplaying. They are really struggling for players and it would be a shame to see it die.

[Karo]

I know it's been mentioned before but anybody following this and liking the concept should check out BtSH https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=264 a Romani PBM. It's basically like this except you pick an actual in game character and debate and make decisions in the forum then act it out in EB. There is a lot of opportunity for fun roleplaying. They are really struggling for players and it would be a shame to see it die.

I would like to join but don't really have the time to play the game.

Marcus Iulius Rufus stands up
"I believe we should put more pressure on the Gallic front, and what do the senators think about going and conquering the rich lands of Iberia and getting all those mines under our command."

[Vasiliyi]

Varinius hears talk about Iberia and stands once again.

"Your words are wise my friend, Marcus. Iberia is where the gold is, and I think it would be appropriate for us to. Conquer it. Ofcourse the decision is within the senates vote, not our speeches. What do you say gentlemen? Shall we put it up to a vote? Yay or nay? Shall we conquer the Iberian provinces and live off the fat of the land? Or shall we sqauble in greece, fighting off endless hordes of greek phalanxes for a small peice of lands? What do you say my wise friends."

[Ghaust the Moor]

Anrza stands to vote.

"As Scipio has stated, we will have one legion, this will not be enough to conquer Iberia. I vote nay, on this account. I think going to Iberia is just another chance for Varinius to get himself another barbarian boy. (Senate chuckles)"


Anrza sits with a smirk.

(Just Rping, nuthin personal)