The Daughters of the Dragon: A Valkyrja AAR (ATW)

[SubRosa]

I decided to take a break from mod work, and once more actually play what I have been working on. Since the largest changes to Amazon:Total War have been to the Valkyrja (formerly New Amazonia), I decided to do an AAR with them. To find out more about ATW look here at the Guild, and here at Mod Realms.

I know most AARs around here are done as a melding of fiction around the framework of a campaign. Those of you who are familiar with my AARs from RTWH will know that is not my style however. I learned from people like Severous, so mine have the same blend of game information and personal observations that his did. Hopefully people will find it to be enjoyable. One thing that will be different from my past AARs is that I will be posting it on multiple forums. I never did that before. I hope it will work out.

So here we go. This will be a Valkyrja AAR, using Amazon: Total War version 2.4.


Difficulty: Very Hard/Very Hard
Scale: Huge
Battle Time Limit: On
Morale: On
Limited Ammo: On
Player Manages All Settlements: On


Here are my starting territories. As you can see, I am deep in the forests of what will one day be known as Russia, with lots of dark areas surrounding my three settlements.


There is one Rebel settlement in view from the start of the campaign. Androphagia. I send my slovenly spy in to investigate, and find it has a small, but potentially dangerous garrison. Naked Fanatics (which in ATW are nothing to sneeze at) and Archers.


I raise taxes in all my settlements, recruit Peasants, and build Roads. Then start sending my troops out to the borders building watchtowers along the way and seeking out neighboring settlements. I start with Antimache in the north, who marches east from Neo Themiskyra.


Polemusa marches west from Careotae.


Finally Makanyane heads south and lays siege to Androphagia.


Next turn Polemusa sights the Rebel settlement of Vicus Aesti.


To the south, Makanyane has built her siege equipment, and assaults Androphagia. I make it a night attack to reduce the range of the Rebel Archers.


My Agema Archers have the range advantage against the Rebel Archers.


We give them an Amazon welcome.


Once the defenders were slaughtered, I sent the infantry forward to batter a way through the walls.


Then I sent my women and men in through multiple entry points.


Advancing upon the town square, I have my Agema Archers open up on the Naked Fanatics there. I array my Spearwomen directly in front of them in a shield wall, with a Warband directly behind them to lend the weight of their numbers. A unit of Militia Axewomen waits on one flank, with Makanyane on the other.


The Fanatics are lured from the square and charge my spearwomen.


Then Makanyane and the Axewomen close the trap behind them.


Their Captain is cut down by a lowly spearman.


The Rebel Warband was finished off in similar fashion, and the city was mine. Losses were high though. Those Naked Fanatics took a real toll, even upon my Spearwomen in their shield wall. In retrospect I should have placed the Warband in front of the Spearwomen to soak up the brunt of the Fanatic's charge. They are much more expendable.


As it is a tiny settlement, I Occupy.

[SubRosa]

My Diplomat has found the Scythians and obtained the usual from them - trade rights and map info.


Back in the capital, the first purely military unit I recruit in the campaign is Horse Archers.


The reason why is the small force of Rebel Amazon Chariots that have appeared east of Neo Themiskyra.


It is your basic shootout.


This one unit eventually led me to create this entire mod. I suppose that is why even though they are incredibly out of place in this territory, I have resisted the temptation to remove them from the game.


Eventually I ran out of arrows. Losses are heavy on both sides. I am not about to go into melee with those Chariots, so instead I withdraw.


It goes down in the books as a defeat. This is a lesson in horse archer tactics for those unfamiliar with them. Do not hesitate to withdraw your army of HAs after you run out of ammo. Typically you are heavily outnumbered. The idea is to whittle the enemy down then retreat when you are out of ammo. Then next turn you go back and attack again with full quivers. Rinse and repeat and you can destroy an army that vastly outnumbers your own while taking very few casualties. The art of war is skill and cunning, not brute force.


In the east, Antimache finds the Rebel settlement of Gelonos. According to Herodotus it was founded by Greek colonists who came north from Maeotis. They sure walked a long way before putting down stakes.


In the west, Polemusa has laid siege to Vicus Aesti.


My slovenly spy has moved on to Vicus Neuri. Not much of a garrison, but that Mercenary Spearwarband could be trouble in the narrow streets.


Next turn, and round two against those Rebel Amazons Chariots.


It is a nice day for an archery duel.


They chased me across half the map before I realized that all of their archers were dead, and instead they had their full complement of chariots and drivers. I have seen this happen with Elephants and Chariots before in RTW.


I use up all of my arrows and kill only 1 Rebel. I have too few women with me to get through their extra hit points, and there are too many Chariots, causing my women to spread their fire out amongst them.


So I withdraw again.


Antimache assaults Gelonos.


I found a unit of Barbarian Cavalry waiting outside of the city and immediately charged them with Antimache and her bodyguard. They retreated to the town square, and I pursued.


Antimache got into range of them and stopped, throwing javelins.


That got their goat. The Barb Cavalry turned and attacked. Rather than duke it out with them, I pulled Antimache back to where my infantry waited.


Then I hit them with everything I had, and the Barbarian Cavalry evaporated.


Afterward I moved back to the square and tried the same trick against the Rebel Warband there.


They refused to leave their square however.


So I brought up my infantry, and let my Skirmishers pelt them with javelins this time.


They came out this time, but routed too close to the square, allowing many of them to escape and reform.


I pick off as many of the Warband as I can before I pull my troops back out of the square. I really do not want to get into a slugging match there, where the enemy will not rout.


Okay, back to the drawing board again. This time I use the Skirmishers to pelt the Rebel Militia Hoplites, while my Amazon Warband sets up across from the Rebel Warband. in the meantime Antimache begins to circle around to the other side of the square.


I use the drag function to make sure my Warband marches into the square, but does not go into the Militia Hoplites. Still, the Militia Hoplites turn and advance on them from the flank.


This in turn exposes them to a flank attack from my Skirmishers, causing them to drop their spears and draw their swords.


Bam! Then Antimache and her bodyguard charged into the lot from behind.


Victory would be mine. But that slugging match in the square cost me a lot of men, and a few good women too.


As it is small, I Occupy Gelonos.


To the south, a lone Horse Archer runs down some Rebel Peasants.


It is not really very noteworthy.


However, it did give me a Commander of the Hour, which is why I mentioned it. I am so taking her.


Next turn, and round 3 against those Rebel Amazon Chariots. This time I have taken the time to retrain my Horse Archers in Neo Themiskyra before engaging however.


It was like shooting fish in a barrel.


Here is a look at the situation overall. To the south the Scythians are now on the move, having laid siege to Vicus Neuri while I was busy hunting Rebels.


To the east the Sarmatians are on the move as well, advancing into the territory of the Roxolani.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

*Does the insanity dance of joy.*

[SubRosa]

Thank you for the dance Olaf.

One last update before I turn into a pumpkin.

In the west, Polemusa assaults Vicus Aesti.


It is a nice winter day for a battle. The cold will preserve the meat of the corpses for Freja's ravens.


After the first breach was made a unit of Barbarian Infantry came to the walls, received a dose of Amazon javelins, and promptly decided that they had other places to be.


With the second breach open I waited no longer and entered the town.


I saw the Barbarian Cavalry waiting outside the square and immediately charged them with Polemusa.


Those Barbarians were tough, and really chewed up her bodyguard before they finally broke.


Then my infantry had come up, and once again a Rebel Captain was laid low by a mere spearman.


I am not sure what these guys are cheering about, they are about to become pincushions.


The javelins pulled them out of the square, where they were promptly routed.


The second Warband followed suit. Most people would probably end the battle here when the game offers you the chance. I never do during sieges. I always fight to the bitter end, even though it means taking more casualties when the routed enemy units get back to the square and reform. It just does not seem right to take the easy way out.


So I take the hard way, and suffer my worse casualties in a battle yet. Obviously Polemusa is not one of my most stellar Generals.


She Occupies Vicus Aesti.


Nearby, the Scythian siege of Vicus Neuri has been broken by the Rebels. *cackles gleefully*


This gives Makanyane a chance to take a crack at the Neuri.


Back west, Polemusa was out building a watchtower when she spotted another Rebel settlement.


Doh! The Scythians have gotten to Vicus Neuri ahead of Makanyane!


Looking south, even though the banners still say they are rebel owned, right clicking on the map shows that the Bosporus now belongs to the Scythians, and the Kuban to the Sarmatians. Given the amount of devastation around each city, it looks like they were long and bitter sieges too.


Speaking of bitter sieges, the Scythians have been beaten back from Vicus Neuri a second time. Truly Freja is with us, for she has given us this opportunity to smite the Rebels.


A new woman has come of age and taken her place amongst the leaders of the Valkyrja. I can use her, and the few other Generals who have adopted in recently, as I have a lot of watchtowers that need building. Not to mention for the powerful heavy cavalry units they provide. I have been avoiding recruiting troops to keep my treasury in enough money to continue building economic buildings in every city. I start with roads, then go with mines (when available) farms, ports (where available), and finally traders. I have yet to construct a single military building. I always go for the money in the early game.

[SubRosa]

My Diplomat meets the Dacians and makes the usual agreements.


As with the Thracians.


Terrible news. My Faction Leader Antimache has died (I need to think of what the Valkyrja would call their leaders, obviously Queen and Princess is right out, Strategos does not feel right either.)


Now Makanyane leads the Valkyrja.


Antimache could not pick a worse time to meet Kybele on her mountain. She leaves young Alkippe to lead the Eastern Army against a large army of Rebels, while an ominous-looking Sarmatian army has come north into our lands.


I missed the odds screen of Makanyane's assault upon Vicus Neuri, but did get the enemy troop composition. The Rebels are all seasoned veterans after defeating the Scythians twice.


I attack the city from two walls.


My Agema Archers soften up the defenders as my women bring up their ram.


The men have no opposition at the other wall, and enter freely.


Makanyane charged in once her wall was breached, and cut down the Neuri leader.


Then it was on the the town square, where the Agema Archers took over.


Makanyane's Bodyguard lent a few javelins to help.


I let the missile troops finish off the Rebels without entering the square. My preferred tactic. I hate those prolonged slug-fests in the square, where the enemy cannot rout. Note the difference in my losses compared to the bloodfests Polemusa has had in the west.


As it is small, I Occupy. As is probably obvious now, I always do so when a settlement is 1st tier or just over it.


They have a shrine to Bendis! Excellent, this will give my missile troops a bonus to their weapons.


In the East, Alkippe has caught up with that big Rebel army near the banks of the Volga.


There sure are a lot of them, including more Fanatics.


These guys are nothing to sneeze at in the early game.


The Rebel General gets the scent of Alkippe, and goes straight after her. She flees, and leads him to where she has her infantry hidden in the woods.


Then she turns and drops the hammer on him.


He fled. Alkippe let him go, having bigger fish to fry. Instead she let her Mercenary Virgin Horse Archers intercept him across the battlefield and run him to the ground. The caused a unit of nearby Peasants to rout just from proximity. Got to love when that happens.


Then it all fell apart. Two units of Barbarian Infantry got into the woods where my infantry was. My Warband evaporated in moments, and the Skirmishers chain routed a second later.


Worse, my Virgin Horse Archers were caught by a unit of Naked Fanatics while riding down the aforementioned Peasants. That was the end of them.


Okay, I still have a Horse Archer and my General. I did not realize it at the time of this pic, but the remnants of my Warband had reformed and were hiding in the woods somewhere. Things are not that bad though. I have the mobility, and I use it to pick apart the Rebel infantry one unit at a time. The trick is to let them chase the General and become exhausted, while shooting them in the back with the Horse Archer. Then charge them and finish them off. Often they will rout before you even make contact.


I stop and rest my women while more of the Rebels come charging up. It is important to give your cavalry breaks to rest during large battles. The more tired a unit is, the closer to routing they are.


I isolate another Naked Fanatic.


They rout without me going into melee.


I have to be careful while I run them down, lest my women blunder into these Barbarian Infantry. Thankfully the Barbarians routed themselves a moment later. Panic is infectious.


Then it was down to this last Barb Infantry unit. It did not last long.


Heroic Victory.


Young General Okypous intercepts some Rebels near the capital. I only mention it because the Rebels are two Generals, and I use some basic Horse Archer tactics to deal with them.


One of the Rebel Generals locks on to Okypous. She flees, leading them past her reinforcing Horse Archers.


Now Okypus will ride in a circle around her missile troops, who pelt the Rebel General with arrows as he rides by them. I call this the Scythian Circle. This trick will work with foot archers and slingers as well.


When the Rebels are whittled down, Okypous turns and slaughters him.


Then it was time for round two. But the second Rebel General was not so obliging. He catches one of my Horse Archers in melee and thrashes them before they can run far enough away to escape.


But then he was trapped. I call this the Triangle of Death. Basically you surround a unit (or units) with Horse Archers. That way you always have a back shot at them, and no matter which way they go, there is no escape.


He locks on to Okypous, and she takes him into another Scythian Circle.


Finally he routs.


Victory.


Another battle with Rebels. This time a lone Horse Archer takes on a Warband and a Peasant.


I concentrate all my fire on the Warband. I do not want to waste arrows against Peasants if I can help it. There are no fancy tactics needed here, just ride away and shoot them as they pursue.


I was able to finish off the Warband with arrows, but then I was out of ammo with plenty of Peasants left.


I ride in close, daring them to come after me. I want them to chase me to get them to Exhausted. But they will not budge.


I hate to leave the field to Peasants. My Horse Archers have axes, which gives them a so-so melee attack. Sometimes you have to roll the hard six. I throw the dice and charge.


The Peasants rout!


Another Heroic Victory.

[SubRosa]

I had to break this up into two posts because the forum software does not allow more than 50 pictures per post.

After the losses she took assaulting Vicus Aesti, Polemusa wisely decided not to take Vicus Gepidae by storm. Instead she settled into a long blockade to starve them out. On their last turn the Gepids sallied.


I move my infantry behind the rams, so they would break up the enemy line, while my cavalry moved to get around behind the oncoming Gepids.


Their first unit is quickly routed.


They head back to the city, and Polemusa see the gates open before her.


She rushes into the defenseless city. I could have had her ride around to all of the gates and this point, and then take the square unapposed to win the city. But I hate to do that when I know I can beat the enemy.


So she came back out to finish off the Rebels.


Down they went.


Victory.


Again, I Occupy.


Uh oh. Over the computer's turn the Sarmatians attacked. One force laid siege to Gelonos, while two others bypassed it and are now marching upon Neo Themiskyra.


Yet another Sarmatian army marches upon Melanchlaeni, and the Scythians hover like flies around my southern settlements.


Now the real fun begins! Young Alkippe hires mercenaries to replenish her Eastern Army and marches to the relief of Gelonos. See how it turns out next post.

[SubRosa]

One more post tonight.

Alkippe leaves her infantrymen behind and rides to the rescue of Gelonos.


The Sarmatians have Virgin Cavalry. These women are very dangerous in the early game, thanks to that armour-piercing attack.


These guys are dangerous at every phase of the game. They are the top of the Sarmatian heap. Their charge bonus is the highest of any unit in the game.


The Sarmatians have one weakness however. They only brought one horse archer. I concentrate all of my own horse archers against it.


In the process their Virgin Cavalry were drawn out after one of my Mercenary Virgin Horse Archers. I trapped them with my Sarmatian Mercenaries and General Alkippe herself.


That was the end of them.


At the other end of the battlefield the two Peasants from Gelonos arrived on the field in time to meet a depleted unit of Sarmatian Nobles. 480 Peasants vs. 32 Sarmatian Nobles. Who do you think will win?


The Sarmatians lost only one man in the process of crushing them both.


However, while they were running down my Peasants, I saw a weakness in the Sarmatian line. They had a unit of foot archers with no spearmen in front of them. I charged in with Alkippe and her Sarmatian Mercenaries.


The Sarmatian Virgin Archers simply disintegrated under the attack.


Then Sarmatian cavalry started to come in from both sides, and I pulled Alkippe and her mercenaries out of there.


These Sarmatian Nobles followed a little too far, and she turned and destroyed them.


That was enough for the rest of the Sarmatians, and they headed for the exit. I fell upon as many as I could before they could escape.


Heroic Victory.


Also my first famous battle marker of the campaign.


Back at the capital, another Rebel Amazon Chariot has appeared.


They are a pretty strong unit.


Just to see how it would work out, I charged the Peasants in to swamp the Chariots.


Victory, but with heavy losses from the Peasants. Plenty more where they came from though...


Okypous received a Graea as a retinue member after that battle. That should not have happened, only the Gorgons should be able to get them. One more thing for the fix list.


Back east, a Sarmatian force has crossed the Don to attack the lagging infantrymen of the Eastern Army.


My men do not stand a chance against those Virgins. I run for it.


Here is some good news, another General. Too bad she turns up in way out in Vicus Gepidae.


Those Eastern Army infantrymen retreat back to the safety of the walls of Gelonos, while Alkippe took the women and rode north west in pursuit of the Sarmatians converging upon the capital.


The Sarmatians have besieged Melanchlaeni as well. Makanyane is heading to their relief, and is forced to leave her infantrywomen behind to get there in time. At the end of her move she begins hiring mercenaries.


Then she send the mercenaries east to Melanchlaeni to reinforce the city, along with a lone Amazon Horse Archer that had been doing rebel-hunting duty.


In the middle of all this the Britons want to trade. Sure, why not?


When it rains, it really pours. Now the Scythians have attacked my mercenaries outside of Melanchlaeni.


At least I have the high ground.


Once again the AI made the fatal mistake of leaving its archers unprotected.


I think one of these archers was the first woman to reach the moon...


The rest of the battle did not go any better for the Scythians.


Unfortunately some managed to escape.


Heroic Victory.


Next turn Makanyane reaches Melanchlaeni and hires more mercenaries. This is really killing my treasury. I have had to suspend all of my building projects to hire and maintain all of these hired bows.


Makanyane does not wait for the rest of her army to come up. She immediately attacks. Her bodyguard is now the size of a regular cavalry unit.


She sees a good piece of high ground in this hill on the Scythian flank and swings her army up around them and onto it.


The Sarmatians come around the left, but are met by infantry and Sarmatian Mercenaries.


While on the right, Makanyane is simply rolling over the Sarmatians.


The Sarmatians have had enough, they head for the exit.


Victory, but many escaped.


Melanchlaeni is now safe.


But the Sarmatians have also besieged the capital of Neo Themiskyra.

[SubRosa]

Alkippe has caught up with them however, and she attacks one of the besieging armies. She does so at night, preventing the second Sarmatian army from entering the battle.


This rock has a good view of the battlefield.


This unit of Steppe Lancers came too far forward, and was pounced on by Alkippe and her Sarmatian Mercs. You can see Okypous and the garrison of Neo Themiskyra are now engaging the right flank of Sarmatians in the background.


Alkippe and her heavies chased the fleeing Sarmatians directly into the rest of their line, and sent them all packing.


Not to be outdone, Okypous took on a pair of Steppe Lancers and defeated them handily.


The rest of the Sarmatians were on the run.


Then their army just disintegrated.


Sadly, a few got away. It is usually impossible to catch all of the routers in these steppe battles.


Victory.


Same turn, the second Sarmatian army outside of Neo Themiskyra is attacked.


Alkippe grew tired of waiting for the garrison of Neo Themiskyra to get on the field, and attacked the Sarmatian center on her own.


Still taking their time....


Alkippe crushed the Sarmatians.


By the time the garrison arrived, the Sarmatians were in full retreat.


Victory, and the capital was safe from invaders.


Here is the situation. In the east the Sarmatians do not have a lot in sight, but I am not sure what might be lurking in that dark area where Campus Roxolani is.


To the south, powerful Scythian armies lurk along my frontier near Androphagia. Not good.

[Monk]

Wow, tons of screens there SubRosa! I had gotten through nearly all of this last night only to find you posted another installment this morning.

Looks like a really fun game, hopefully you'll be able to secure peace with the Sarmatians before having to deal with the Scythians on your southern flank. I'm not sure I like your chances in a two front war.

Looking forward to more.

[SubRosa]

Thank you Monk. I always use a lot of pictures in my AARs. Typically I will have about 1500-1600 in each. As the campaign goes on I will not have to go in so much depth in every battle, so they will decrease in that respect. But there will be more battles overall, so they increase that way.

My plan right now is a two front war in fact. At least a limited one. It will be tough, because I am very stretched in my interiour and have to use mercenaries to outfit most of my armies. But a good challenge makes the game fun. I plan to send Makanyane south with her army to deal with the Scythians in the open around Androphagia, then press on against their cities. She will be the main hammer, because wiping out the Scythians will give me more stable frontiers and also Black Sea ports for trade. The secondary front will be led by Alkippe, who will lead the troops from the capital south-east after Campus Roxolani. I may stop there, or head east across the Don and into the Sarmatian heartland. It all depends on how things are going.

[SubRosa]

I spent about an hour and half playing this afternoon and when I went to start my writeup discovered to my horror that I had forgotten to turn on FRAPs before hand. (I will have to put in my startup folder for the duration of the AAR so it does not happen again). So no pictures for those battles. No great loss, it was basically rebel-hunting, and cleaning up some small bands of Scythians and Sarmatians on the borders. Alkippe did advance upon Campus Roxolonai in the east, but saw a huge Sarmatian army coming up to its defense, and she was obliged to retreat north.

That is where things pick up. That huge army has caught up with Alkippe at the westward bend of the Don river. Alkippe does not want to fight such a huge force at a river. She does not have the infantry to hold the crossing, and will have only half the map to maneuver upon when the Sarmatians did come across. So instead she withdraws.


The Sarmatians pursue and bring her to battle in the open. Just as I had hoped (well, actually I was hoping they would not reach her until next turn, when she would have reinforcements from the capital joining her).


The battlefield is dominated by this big rock. Maybe I can put that to use...


I move all of my cavalry over to my left and charge in at the Sarmatians. This is something I learned in my Defensive Scythia AAR. When you are outnumbered concentrate all of your force upon one flank of the enemy and attack. The other flank of the enemy will not be able to attack you, and has thusly been taken out of the battle. At least temporarily. If you have an all cavalry army as I do currently, you can even gain a local superiourity at the point of attack.


With Alkippe in the lead, my Amazons and mercenaries smash the Sarmatian right.


I have to keep moving, as the rest of their army is trying to swing around and get at me. Chasing the remnants of the Sarmatian right gives me a good opportunity to kill more nomads while staying out of the grasp of their comrades.


I have gotten clear of most of their army and run the routers as far as I can go. I leave two horse archers behind to mop up a routed Sarmatian Virgin Horse Archer. In retrospect this was a mistake, as they would be trapped themselves and routed.


I keep moving my main force around that big rock, keeping it between me and the main Sarmatian army. One of their Sarmatian Mercs followed, and I treat them to a dose of arrows from all of my horse archers as they vainly pursued Alkippe. They would be destroyed when she turned to face them soon later.


The rest of their army came around the rock, and after a bit of skirmishing I was forced to withdraw across the map. By now I do not have much left. Alkippe is down to only herself and one of her bodyguards. I will have to be careful not to get her killed.


Then the Sarmatian General was cut down by my arrows. Just the turn of luck I had been hoping for!


I decided to relocate again and run across the map as their infantry come up. This is a good tactic, as once you get to the far side of the map you can stop and rest your cavalry, and the enemy infantry will be exhausted by the time they catch up with you.


They pursued, with their last cavalry unit coming far out ahead of the others. I stopped my flight and came back, concentrating all of my arrows against them.


The Sarmatian Mercenaries rout, and I run them down like dogs!


All of their cavalry are dead now. I cannot believe I have done as well as I have, given the circumstances. The trouble is that I am almost out of ammo, have no heavy cavalry left, and they have two Mercenary Amazon Archers and a Virgin Archer in that infantry. I cannot win a missile duel, and cannot finish them in melee.


So I let them chase me around the map. In the process one of their Steppe Spearman units come out too far from the rest.


They are surrounded and annihilated.


That was enough for me. I let them chase me until the clock ran out (this is why I always play with a time limit). Somehow I pulled a victory out of it.


In the middle of all of this a Gallic ambassador turned up and concluded a deal for trade between our far-removed peoples.


Here is what I was afraid would happen. The Scythians have begun the assault upon Vicus Neuri before Makanyane could reach the city.


With only two Warbands and a Peasant, there was no point trying to defend the walls, so I let them in unopposed.


Instead I waited for the Scythians in the town square, where my men would not rout. I actually beat off their first wave.


But the second wave was of Head-Hunting Maidens. Eeep!


Then the third wave came.


My valiant captain was laid low.


The rest of her troops soon followed her to the afterlife.


The city was lost! The shame of it all!


However, vengeance will soon be at hand. Makanyane has reached the city to take it back!


While in the east, the battered but victorious Alkippe once more advances upon Campus Roxolani.

[SubRosa]

Once more, the Sarmatians scraped up enough troops to counter-attack the Eastern army, now led by Okypous. Only four of the Sarmatian units are new, and they are only Steppe Lancers. The rest are troops I have already beaten once.


These big jagged rocks appear to litter the steppe, like the broken teeth of a long-dead race of giants.


The first Sarmatian force of Steppe Lancers is quickly surrounded. They really had no chance.


Once they were out of the way, the second Sarmatian force was starting to come into action, cavalry first.


Their Captain was cut down by my Generals.


As my women closed in on their army, I had to be careful to ride around those Mercenary Amazon Hoplites of theirs.


I later looked over to see that Alkippe had blundered into those Hoplites while chasing routers. Clicking like a madwomen I prayed to Freja that their spears did not send her ungently into that good night.


Lucky girl. She escapes unscathed, and now the Scythians are surrounded.


The end followed soon after. Heroic Victory and another famous battle marker. It seemed barely noteworthy.


It did leave Campus Roxolani denuded of its garrison however. Now it would fall easily. Once I brought a Warband up from Melanchlaeni that is.


For those of you unfamiliar with Amazon: Total War, every faction in the game has a unique artifact which only its Generals may possess. These are items from the myths and legends of those factions, which bestow great prestige - and some even whisper magical power - upon the wielder.


In the west, Makanyane was ready to liberate Vicus Neuri. The Scythians have a lot of archers in there, so I make this a night attack to reduce their range. This is just in time too, a full stack of Scythians is headed north from Vibantavarium to attack her.


One of my own Horse Archers is now at silver experience.


A ferocious archery duel erupted at the walls of the city.


One which I would eventually win. Amazon quivers are open graves.


The way cleared by the archers, the rams made short work of the city's defenses.


Then the remaining defenders were swept aside.


My army streamed into the city down two roads. One led directly to the lightly defended town square. The other to a side-street where a large mob of Scythians lurked around the corner.


Makanyane led the troops down the sidestreet, and pulled up to a stop to rain javelins upon the Scythians. She did not want to charge in there until her infantry had the chance to catch up with her. Especially since her spies reported Bosporan Infantrymen among the Scythians.


In the meantime Polemusa went directly to the town square.


It was quickly hers, and the remaining Scythians were now trapped between Makanyane and Polemusa.


They crumbled before Makanyane's advance.


Routing defenders in a city battle always head for the town square. This sent them directly into the waiting spears and axes of Polemusa's women.


Here is a shot of my Spearwomen receiving a power up.


There are no survivors among the Scythians.


The citizens cheer as they are freed from the yoke of the treacherous Scythians.


On the AI's turn, that full stack of Scythians from Vibantavarium wants no part of Makanyane.


Makanyane pursues. Right now her primary goal is to destroy the Scythian armies in the field, leaving their cities easy targets.


Speaking of which, now that the Sarmatian field armies have been cleared from Tribus Roxolani, Okypous leads the assault upon its Campus.


Their archers were easily swept aside by my own at the walls, leaving no one to hinder my entrance.


The Barbarian General was drawn out of the town square by arrow fire, and met by Okypous and her Warband. The Sarmatian Steppe Lancers quickly followed their leader into the melee.


That left the town square empty as Alkippe rode in from behind them.


Bam! She charged into the Sarmatian rear, trapping and destroying them.


No survivors.


Once more I Occupy. I was very disappointed to find there was not even a 1st tier stable in the city. Now I will have to build one in order to retrain my Horse Archers. Still, this will be an ideal place to defend the eastern frontier against further Sarmatian attacks.

[SubRosa]

News reaches the plains that my Gorgon sisters have found a new homeland.


Closer to home, that Scythian army continues to flee from Makanyane. I think they are headed for the low-hanging fruit of Vicus Venedae to the west. I cannot seem to catch them, so they will probably take it, meaning I will have to take it from them. I was hoping to leave it as a Rebel buffer against Dacia and Germania.


In the central plains, Xanthippe rode from Melanchlaeni to intercept a Scythian force south of the city.


It was all going well until the Scythians high tailed it for the map edge. I did not want that General of theirs getting away, so I sent my Horse Archers into melee with him. I know, Horse Archers vs. a General. But I needed to stop him inside the map in order for Xanthippe to reach him. Sometimes you have to roll the hard six.


Stop him they did, and once Xanthippe caught up with him he was sent to meet his barbarous gods. The butcher's bill was high. But I can retrain my Horse Archers next turn, while the Scythians are not getting that General back.


My economy is improving, but money is still tight. So I sell my map to the Romans.


An Amazonian Diplomat offered me trade rights, I accepted and suggested we become allies. I hate to stand with those arrogant royalists, but for the moment we women need to stand together.


The Britons seemed to have the same idea. They are at war with Germania, who are allied with Scythia. Given this I thought it would be a good idea to take them up on the offer.


Now the Scythians want trade rights? Did this Diplomat not get the memo that we are a war?


A Scythian army attacks Xanthippe immediately after their diplomat's offer to underscore the point. They have an awful lot of horse archers in there. Xanthippe withdraws rather than face certain destruction.


Next turn I learn that Amazonia has broken our alliance, and Scythia and I are at war? Ahhh, I see. Scythia and Amazonia were allies. So when I allied with Amazonia, that automatically made Scythia and I neutral. Until the Scythians attacked again that is.


Speaking of Scythian attacks, they did take Vicus Venedae as I suspected.


Now Makanyane will have to dig them out of there. They have the missile advantage, so she does it at night to reduce the range of arrows.


I come at the settlement from two sides.


Makanyane sees two juicy targets at the edge of town and immediately charges in at them.


Polemusa does likewise at the other wall.


She drives the Scythians before her.


She has to stop short to avoid blundering into a mass of Scythians however. Time to bring up the infantry.


On the other side of the settlement, Makanyane was pushing her way in.


She had the Scythians trapped between two streets, but for every unit she routed there was another waiting behind it.


Polemusa had become bogged down as well.


Then her archers cut down the Scythian Captain.


Now she was able to charge into the settlement.


Makanyane finally dealt with the outer defenses, and closed in on the town square.


Polemusa cleared the Scythians before her and was on her way to reinforce.


A horrific bloodletting erupted in the center of town.


Victory belonged to Makanyane. But the losses are staggering.


Still, Makanyane has 628 kills just to herself.


I liberate the people of Vicus Venedae from the terrible Scythians.


My treasury is just barely keeping a profit, but not much. Still, I am constructing buildings in many of my settlements again. After all, having lost so many soldiers means I do not have to pay as much in upkeep every turn...


Over the AI's turn the Scythian army that Xanthippe was forced to retreat from followed her to Melanchlaeni. Alkippe is on the way from Campus Roxolani to reinforce her however.


Then next turn another Scythian army besieged Androphagia.


Xanthippe sallied from Melanchlaeni, bringing Alkippe in the battle to assist her.


The Scythians began the battle on the corner of the city on the strat map, so they head for that corner as the battle starts. Alkippe starts near that corner, and will move in to intercept them.


Xanthippe waits as the Scythians go past. She does not want to rush out and be shot to pieces by those Horse Archers going by.


In the map corner, Alkippe's force and most of Xanthippe's Horse Archers (who exited by another gate than Xanthippe), had met the Scythians.


Xanthippe left the city as the tail of the Scythian column came by and charged directly into them.


All the Scythians on hand rush into melee with her.


Seeing that they were all Horse Archers, it did not work out well for them.


Now Alkippe and Xanthippe were penning the Scythians in the corner.


The trap was almost shut when several of their Horse Archers ran for it and squirted free.


Still, it is a victory, and the siege was lifted.


The same turn, Alkippe took on a small group of Scythians who had come up to help their comrades.


Nothing special about this one. Alkippe leaves no survivors.


The same turn Tereis sallies from Androphagia. This gives me a look at the army the Scythians have besieging the city. I do not like it one bit, and Tereis withdraws back to the city. I expected as much, I just wanted confirm the makeup of their army before I brought in reinforcements from Melanchlaeni.


In the west, Makanyane is marching east upon Vibantavarium. If I can weather the Scythian storm in the center, she will sweep across the plains from the west and wipe them from existence.

[SubRosa]

The Greeks wish to trade with us? I wish to have their heads on a platter. Well, time enough for that later. We will sell them Amazon trinkets for now.


This is what I have been dreading ever since I took Vicus Gepidae, and the reason I have made sure I have had a General there at all times since. Germania has attacked.


Kardika, a new member of our august gathering of Amazon heroes, rides north from her post at Vicus Venedae as far as she can go, then hires a mercenary band of Barbarian Cavalry. She sends the mercenaries on to Vicus Gepidae to assist Pantariste there.


Pantariste then sallies, bringing the Barb Cavalry mercs in as reinforcements.


The Germans were on the corner tile of the city on the strat map, so they head for that corner as the battle starts. Pantariste finds an opening in their column and charges.


Scratch those Screechers.


Her Skirmishers come out of the city and proceed to give this lagging German Spearwarband volley after volley of javelins.


The Germans are setting up a line in the corner of the map. I want to get at their Barb Archers and Barb Cavalry, so I sweep around their line with my horse. In the background all of my infantry is converging on that lagging Spearwarband above.


Charge!


There goes the German Captain. Their archers followed soon after.


Mopping up. The Spearwarbands are in phalanx, and thusly are too slow to do anything but watch me butcher their comrades.


My infantry is finally catching up to that Spearwarband.


Uh oh, they turned and lowered their spears, this will get ugly fast.


My infantry routs before I can order them to retreat.


Okay, time to rest a bit.


Pantariste tries to lure the German Axemen out of formation to pursue her. They do not go for it.


So she rides over to the spearmen and give them a few volleys of javelins. Alas, that does not budge them either.


Finally she simply charges into the Axemen on the flank, routing them instantly (they were exhausted, which helps a lot).


Ooops, here comes another Axe unit. Pantariste stops before she blunders into it.


The Axemen charge her, and follow her back to the walls of the city. Right in front of a tower.


They changed their mind about attacking her when she saw the rest of my army.


Too late, there is no escape for these Germans.


After another rest break, another Spearwarband is lured out of formation.


Again, they get close and change their minds.


Too late for them as well...


While my cavalry was across the field chasing down routers, my infantry dispatched another Spearwarband on their own after surrounding it.


It is round four or five by now, and only three Spearwarbands are left. I pick them apart. This one on the flank looks like a good target.


I hit it with everything from both sides and they insta-rout.


I let the momentum carry my army into the second Spearwarband next to it.


Chain rout.


Only one left. You can guess what happened next.


Heroic Victory.


It was a slaughter. Over one thousand kills for Pantariste alone. Pretty good for her first battle.


I just love when the AI does this.


In the east, Xanthippe raises the siege of Androphagia by attacking the Scythians blockading it.


The garrison of the city enters the battle right on the Scythian flank.


It was your basic plains battle. Here goes the Scythian General.


Their handlers all dead, these Wardogs are now ghostly apparitions.


Victory.


Even further east, Okypous sallies against the Sarmatians besieging Campus Roxolani.


It is not a battle, but a slaughter.

[SubRosa]

Finally, Makanyane has her chance to take the war to our enemies. She assaults Vibantavarium.


She attacks from two walls.


Polemusa's force enters the city first.


But Makanyane's follows soon after.


The Scythian General saw a chance and attacked one of Polemusa's Warbands that was far out ahead of the rest of her force.


They held long enough for Polemusa and the rest of her women to come up.


Scratch one barbarian warlord.


Then it was on to the town square.


No survivors.


Makanyane shows no mercy to the vile Scythians. They are put to the sword.


After withstanding attacks on all the frontiers, Valkyrja lands are once again clear of invaders. Next stop, Olbia.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Can i has full map plz?
Kthnxbai

[SubRosa]

The Scythians and Sarmatians are still testing my borders. However, where previously I was rushing reinforcements from one endangered city to another in a desperate race to hold back the barbarian tidal wave, now I am using my cities as strong points to dominate the terrain. When an enemy force appears over the horizon I ride out and destroy them before they can get far, let alone lay siege to anything. It also helps that there are much fewer Scythians and Sarmatians than before. Here is one such example near Campus Roxolani.


An easy victory for Okypous. I have made her my Faction Heir rather than Alkippe, as she was the one leading all of the battles anyway.


I saw a lone Scythian unit wandering north of Vibantavarium and sent Polemusa out to deal with it. It shows as having only 49 soldiers, but a closer look shows it has 193. It is a dog unit. The first is the human handlers, the second is the animals (or animals + handlers?).


Flawless victory.


A lone Horse Archer rode out to intercept a small Scythian force not too far away but could not reach it. The Scythians obliged me by attacking my Horse Archer on their turn.


The Scythians are annihilated for a Heroic Victory.


Far in the east, the garrison of Gelonos spotted a small Sarmatian force that had crossed over to our side of the border. They rode out to chastise them.


This is an example of a very successful horse archer tactic I call the Scythian Horse Ride. Basically you get an enemy cavalry unit to attack one of your own. A General makes the best bait, but as in this case, a simple Horse Archer will do as well. Your bait unit flees from the pursuer. Then you slide one or more Horse Archers in behind the pursuer and follow them. Your bait unit leads the enemy across the map, and you shoot them in the back with the second unit the entire way until they rout. If you have a General acting as bait, you can just wait until they are whittled down a bit and then turn and destroy them in melee. This is especially effective in destroying enemy Generals, but you better have a General of your own acting as bait.


Second Heroic Victory in a row.


In the west, Tereis goes to deal with a Rebel General who has been waylaying merchants on the road from Careotae to Vicus Gepidae for years. I have only now had stable enough borders to send a General after him.


Third Heroic Victory in a row.


Polemusa has joined forces with that lone Horse Archer of mine from before, and they took on another small Scythian army, this one led by a General.


Only a Clear Victory this time, so my string of Heroics is broken. But I killed the General, and that is most important.


Here you go Olaf, a look at the world with Fog of War off. The Gorgons have settled in North Africa, after driving Carthage from its shores. Numidia actually looks very strong. The Romans are doing nothing, as are the Iberians and Gauls. The Britons are fighting the Germans around Batavodorum. Big Yellow, Amazonia, and Armenia are all tearing pieces out of the Seleucids (funny, in my Gorgon campaign The Seleucids absolutely dominated the Near East).


Here is another example of what I was talking about in the beginning of the post. A small Scythian force has crossed the border east of Androphagia. Xanthippe immediately rode out to attack them before they could penetrate far into Valkyrja lands.


She leaves no survivors.


In the east, Alkippe was building watchtowers south of Campus Roxolani when she saw that Tanais is tantalizingly open.


The reason for the lack of defenders is further west. Makanyane is one turn away from laying siege to Olbia. The Scythians seem to have shifted their armies from the east toward her. They have two half stacks of horse archers on the road between Olbia and Tanais, as well as the garrison of Olbia itself. But all are low-tier troops. They have long since used up all of the elite troops they started the game with.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

WTF??? Gorgons no take Triton?

Well at least we have now seen that the Seleucids have a fighting chance to win the ME.

[SubRosa]

I have tried and tried to get the Gorgons to attack Triton, but the AI just does not want to do it. I have even scripted Gorgons armies to appear right next to Triton at the start of the game. They just stand around for a dozen turns and then wander off. I tried moving Triton to see if it would make a difference, and it still changed nothing. It is like the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.

[SubRosa]

Well it is about time!


A Scythian army blocks the road to Olbia.


I set out my archers ahead of my infantry, this way they can engage the Scythians as soon as possible. I am not worried about a charge on my archers, as the Scythians are all horse archers. Still, I move my infantry forward through the archers as soon as possible to reduce the amount of time they are vulnerable.


Here is a little trick to hunting horse archers when you do not have them yourself. Use one unit to push the archer in one direction, and send a cavalry unit around behind them at the same time. They end up trapped between your two units.


No getting out of this.


The rest of the battle went no different. Makanyane brushes the Scythians aside.


She continues to Olbia and lays siege to the city. Mindful of the Scythian armies in striking distance to the north, she is careful to position herself on the western side of the city. This way if the other Scythians reinforce they will not be coming in on her flank or rear.


In the east, a Sarmatian force has turned up to defend the approach to Tanais (or more likely they were just on their way to Campus Roxolani). In any case, Alkippe attacks it.


Nomad scum cannot stand against the might of the Valkyrja.


Afterward Alkippe leaves the army and heads back north to Campus Roxolani. A large Sarmatian force has been spotted east of the city, and she will be needed to defend it. Okypous takes the rest of the force south and builds a fort near Tanais, thinking that the Scythians in the open near the city might attack her. In the meanwhile Xanthippe moves east to join her. Now that Olbia has fallen, she is no longer needed to defend Androphagia.


Over the AI's turn, Makanyane is attacked outside of Olbia, bringing the garrison of the city into the battle as reinforcements. If I can destroy the Scythians the city will be mine without a siege.


The goddesses have blessed me with this lovely hill to stand upon. For an archery faction like mine, height is a devastating advantage.


As the first army comes up the hill, I swing my infantry to the right to face them head on. In the no-woman's land between the armies, Makanyane cleans up the lead elements of the Scythians.


It took a while for them to get up the hill, but the first army is finally engaging.


It starts with a clash of infantry.


A unit of their Steppe Spearmen was able to get around my left. They were met by Makanyane and her Sarmatian Mercs.


She continued through the routing spearmen and charged down upon the Scythian General.


He was cut down by the Sarmatians.


Back in the center, the infantry were slugging it out breast to breast.


My women prevailed, and the Scythian right dissolved.


Who let these things out?


Olbia's garrison was now coming into action, especially on my right.


The Scythians have gotten around my flank. Especially disturbing are the Barbarian Cavalry, who have a clear shot at my Mercenary Amazon Archers. I have my Warband on the flank pull out of line and charge them.


Spears vs. horses = dead horses.


The rest of the garrison was cleaned up shortly thereafter. Heroic Victory.


The men of Olbia begin their new lives as Amazon slaves.


I also receive a famous battle marker.


Here is a turn of luck. A new daughter came of age in Olbia immediately afterward.


Back in the east Okypous and Xanthippe have a Scythian sandwich of that army that was in the field near Tanais.


Scratch another Scythian army.


Hmmm, the Dacians are becoming restless. They will be attacking soon. I move to reinforce Vicus Venedae.


My Diplomat has discovered that the Thracians have taken Pella and Bylazora from the Macedonians.


Making them allies seems like a good idea right now.

[SubRosa]

As I expected, the Dacians have crossed the border and besieged Vicus Venedae.


Kardika sallies, bringing in the reinforcements I sent from Vicus Gepidae last turn.


She soundly thrashes the Dacians.


My slovenly spy is investigating the Bosporus before I invade. Neapolis Scythica is nearly 4th tier! Clearly, there are a lot of Scythians that need killing here.


Next turn, the Dacians invade once more.


Same with the Sarmatians. Nobody likes me...


Once more Kardika sallies from Vicus Venedae.


The Dacians have Bastarnae Mercenaries in their army. These are not your father's Bastarnae.


The Dacian General locked onto Kardika and charged early on. She fled before him, and took him on a Scythian Horse Ride around the city walls.


He has not lost much going into the first turn. His bodyguard's second hit point is still holding up.


By the second turn the Dacian bodyguard is almost gone. They would rout two dead men later and be run down by Kardika.


The Bastarnae, being mere infantry, were then baited, tired, surrounded, and destroyed.


Heroic Victory.


The garrison of Gelonos then sallied.


After a long archery duel, the Sarmatian's Virgin Cavalry came out and charged one of my Horse Archers, who promptly took them on a Scythian Horse Ride.


They routed half way around the city as well.


Heroic Victory #2.


Alkippe had marched forward to the bridge on the Don, as she saw a large Sarmatian army moving up on Gelonos. She wanted to either meet the Scythians in the open, or be able to reinforce Gelonos should that army lay siege as the first did. The Sarmatians saw her and forgot about Gelonos.


Their first army is rather small, but that big army Alkippe was concerned about was approaching from behind the trees on the left.


Alkippe immediately charged across the bridge, with several Horse Archers following shortly thereafter.


They put the first army to flight. But that second army was coming onto the field.


Alkippe brought her women back across the Don to wait for their arrival.


As plains battles always do, it started with an archery duel. However, I concentrated most of my fire not on the Virgin Archers you see in front, but the Virgin Cavalry behind them. I knew the Cavalry would be the first across the bridge, and I wanted to blunt them first if possible.


My plan worked, the Virgin Cavalry routed when they came across.


But the rest of the Sarmatians followed, and I was obliged to give them space.


Their General went after one of my Horse Archers on the riverbank. They fled while Alkippe rode over to intercept him.


She caught up with him, and with the help of a few Horse Archers sandwiched him.


He fled.


Then he was cut down.


The remainder of their army was mopped up at the bridge.


Heroic Victory #3.


Now the main event of tonight's card. Makanyane has crossed over into the Bosporus and laid siege to Neapolis Scythica. A small Scythian army from Chersonesos came up and attacked her, drawing the garrison of Neapolis Scythica into the battle as well.


I want that big hill behind the first Scythian army. So I immediately charge forward with everything I have.


Where did the Scythians get these guys? They might be leftovers from the start of the game. But I would have thought they would have taken casualties from the sieges of Chersonesos and Panticapaeum if that were so.


No matter, Makanyane's guard makes short work of them. Did I mention that her bodyguard is now at 3 gold chevrons of experience? The boogieman has nightmares about her.


The first army's infantry is swept aside by my own.


Then their Virgin Horse Archers are penned in the corner and wiped out.


Now I turn my army 90 degrees to the left to face the second Scythian army.


Just in time to meet them head on.


Their General is sent packing.


He meets his gods in disgrace.


I push my army forward as fast as they can go, and the Scythians begin to collapse.


Soon they completely dissolve.


Victory! I was too close to the map edge though, which allowed many of the fleeing Scythians to escape back to Neapolis Scythica and continue to garrison it. Now I will have to take it by siege.

[Monk]

Impressive Subrosa. Not only have to managed a multi-front war but you're actually on your way to smashing Scythian resistance, I very much doubt the Sarmatians are looking forward to fighting your full strength once the Scythians are out of the way.

I have to admit I had a little laugh at the Dacian general's expense. Ah, the wonders of mounted archery!

[SubRosa]

Thank you Monk. I am glad I gave the Valkyrja an entry level horse archer unit. There is no way I could have survived this long against the Scythians and Sarmatians with only Militia Cavalry.

[SubRosa]

Polemusa comes to the aid of besieged Vibantavarium.


Even though it was actually a rather poor performance by myself (check the losses I suffered) it goes down as a Heroic Victory and a famous battle marker.


Further north, Prince Hairyfellas of the Germans had crossed over into Valkyjra territory and needed to be taught a lesson in property rights.


Another Heroic Victory.


The westlands were now free of invaders. For now.


Now to the east. The siege of Tanais has been one headache after another. First I built a ram, not realizing it had stone walls. Then once I did notice I had to spend another turn building a siege tower. Then when I finally went to attack my tower was nowhere to be found. That ticked me off. I am not a big fan of reloading battles, but I am not going to assault a stone-walled city without the siege tower that I wasted a turn building. I reloaded and tried again, and still no siege tower. So in disgust I auto-resolved.


Tanais was taken, and I clapped the Scythian men into irons.


In the west, Captain Selifator of the Scythians desperately tried to defend their capital of Neapolis Scythica from Makanyane.


Makanyane attacks from two walls.


She makes her entry with no opposition.


Then she runs into fierce resistance half-way to the town square.


These Virgin Horse Archers really put up a good fight, better than you would expect for a horse archer unit in melee.


But finally Captain Selifator was laid low.


Resistance collapsed, and it was just a matter of letting the archers mop up the remnants in the square.


Victory.


If it were another city Makanyane would have enslaved it. But this was the capital of the enemy. A message had to be sent to other nations who thought to attack Amazons. Makanyane wrote it in the skulls of dead Scythians.


Neapolis Scythica can render up several goodies, including these beauties.


The same turn, Alkibia is dispatched south to lay siege to Chersonesos with a few cavalry units. I do not expect her to take the city by herself, but you never know when the AI will try a sally.

[SubRosa]

The Dacians are still buzzing around the westlands like flies.


Polemusa rides out to swat them.


No survivors.


Same turn, she takes on the second Dacian force.


Again, no survivors.


After using her to smite some Rebels, I noticed that Kardika has a +6 to Law thanks to being an upright person. I am wasting her in a tiny place like Vicus Vendedae. I am going to move her to Vicus Gepidae, where I am dealing with chronic unrest from the hairy barbarians.


In the east, Okypous marches from Tanais to deal with one of the Scythian armies roaming Maeotis.


It is all high ground in front of me. Not good at all.


I take my entire army up to the flank and onto a piece of higher ground than the Scythians have.


Then I turn 90 degrees and head straight into them.


Victory.


The second army that was in Maeotis marched south to the Crimea. Now I have several choices to make. Do I call off the siege of Chersonesos and reinforce Neapolis Scythica, assuming they are going to attack it? Do I leave my troops exactly as they are, and hope the Scythians go after Neapolis Scythica and do not attack Alkibia outside of Chersonesos instead? Do I attack Chersonesos right now, and hope that my divided forces can maintain order in both cities and stave off the coming attack?


I take a fourth option. I call off the siege and bring Alkibia and her troops back north, then march out with everything to meet the Scythian army in the open. With them destroyed, the entire peninsula will be mine for the taking.


This rough patch of ground on my left would give me problems in my advance.


However, Alkibia found the Scythian General on that flank and immediately charged him.


Her women sacrificed him upon Freja's altar (the battlefield).


I had pushed Makanyane forward on the right to deal with some Scythians who were threatening to turn my flank. Then she saw an opportunity and did exactly the same thing to them. At the same time Alkibia came over from the left to charge into their other flank, and my infantry advanced directly forward.


The Scythian center dissolved. The battle then became a series of isolated engagements on the flanks.


I just like this picture.


Victory. However, some of the Scythians would escape.


The economy is doing better. I am back to full build programs in all of my cities, and still maintaining the ever-growing military.


Looks like I will be at war with the Thracians soon... I begin moving troops to reinforce Olbia.


Next turn Makanyane chased more Scythians around a bit, then finally brought them to ground outside of Chersonesos, bringing the garrison into the fray as well.


It was very one-sided.


I did not realize it, but that was Scythia's Last general. Their faction is now a memory.


With that Chersonesos and Panticapaeum reverted to Rebel ownership, just as they were at the beginning of the game.

[SubRosa]

A smallish update for this afternoon.

I can now recruit Heavy Cavalry in Neo Themiskyra.


The Thracians have crossed over into Amazon territory.


In the east, Okypous sallies against a Sarmatian army that has laid siege to Tanais.


There sure are a lot of them out there.


Okypous gobbles up the stragglers in their line.


Then she smashes their extreme right flank.


My infantry come up on that flank, and Okypous comes back to lend a hand.


The Sarmatians throw everything they have into it, as do I.


Finally their General is cut down by my Horse Archers.


Heroic Victory. Freja's ravens will gorge themselves tonight.


Hmmm, the Royalists have allied themselves with my enemies.


No surprise here. The Thracians have lain siege to Olbia.


In the Crimea, First Equal Makanyane assaults Chersonesos.


She attacks from two directions.


There was little opposition at the walls. Not after my archers were through with them at least.


But their General came over to counter-attack my mercenaries as they marched into the city.


He fled when Makanyane herself appeared.


In the meantime my Spearwomen were marching upon the town square.


Then it was just a matter of letting the archers clean out the last of the Rebels.


No survivors.


The men of Chersonesos begin their new lives as Amazon slaves.


Vicus Venedae immediately grows to third tier.


As does Vicus Gepidae.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

While i love your mods i think you might need a new naming scheme for your settlements.
I mean Neo-Themysikira? While it does describe something, doesnt it just represent the Monarchists the the Valkyrjaians were fleeing from?
Just my 2cents.

[SubRosa]

Well, it is like Americans naming cities New York. But I have been thinking of renaming it anyhow, to be more distinct. I have just not decided exactly what to, but I am leaning toward Vanaheimr, Fólkvangr, or Sessrúmnir.

[Olaf Blackeyes]

Id go with Vanahemir personally but its ur choice.

[SubRosa]

Tereis, now a hardened veteran from decades of hunting Rebels, sallies against the Thracian army laying siege to Olbia.


I come at them from two sides, and they form two lines to repel me.


I give them a bit of arrows, drawing some of their infantry out on their left. Then I charged them as they headed back to their lines.


Their left evaporates.


In the meantime, my Mercenary Amazon Archers were softening up their Phalanx Pikemen in the center.


Okay, Round Two. I have pulled my troops back after chasing down the routers from the left flank and rested them. Once more I spend a while giving the Thracians some arrows.


I see a weakness form on their right flank, and charge.


Part of their center chain routs as I smash the flank.


Then it was just a matter of cleaning up the remnants.


Heroic Victory.


I hate when the AI does this to me. Damned Diplomats!


Alkippe cannot reach Campus Roxolani this turn. I do not want to wait another turn, because that will give the Sarmatians time to build a unit to garrison the city with, then I will have to retake it by siege. So Alkippe moves toward the city, then hires a Mercenary Virgin Horse Archer. The mercenaries then ride forward with a full movement rate and reach the city, taking it with no opposition.


It is my city, so I Occupy.


The west has not been quiet either. This is one of two Germanic incursions.


Both ended the same way.


That one got a famous battle marker however.


Who's your momma?


I do not have any assassins to take care of that Sarmatian Diplomat outside of Campus Roxolani. So I deal with him in a way that I have found to be very effective. With money.


Lousy Egyptians...


I have found that my enemies always make alliances with one another. You could say that I always unite the world in RTW, against me that is...


On the other hand, I can now recruit these lovelies in my capital.


Money has been in short supply again, so I sell my map to the Pharaoh.


A Sarmatian army has crossed the Don. Alkippe rides to meet them.


The Sarmatians are destroyed, and Alkippe marches east across the Don and into Sarmatian lands. Her next stop is Campus Sauromatae.