The Rome Diaries (warning: lots of pic's)

[RabidGibbon]

The Rome Diaries

Hello all.

I've been posting this at the R:TR forums for a bit and thought I'd bring it over here for you all to have a look at. It's not a story, more of a AAR really

The Aim of this post is to create a (reasonably) complete history of a R:TW campaign, for my own and your amusement.

Having just downloaded the Roma 5.5 mod for RTR I’ve decided to start that off and keep track of play with notes that can then be turned into “instalments” like this. Unit sizes are Huge and the difficulty levels are those recommended in the Mod, I believe they equate to VH/M.

First of all thanks go to Bouis for creating the Mod and to the rest of the R:TR team for providing the base to work on for creating these forums to write this in.

So, the mods downloaded, I’ve started the campaign map up and I’m looking around.

Lets Begin

First impressions are that I’ve got a lot more land than in 5.4.1. Something else is different too, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Theirs a lot of spies around too - at least 3, no ones going to be creeping up on this republic then.

I’ve got a few diplomats around too, and my first priority is obviously going to be getting rid of the Greeks in southern Italy - south of me is a rebel city, then 2 Greek cities. The rebel city seems very well defended - and that old villain Pyrrhus of Epirus is lording it around Tarentum too.

Looking at the cities under my control I immediately see that only Rome can build the Hastatii, Principes and Triarii that I imagine will make up the bulk of my forces. In the north I can build some Gallic auxilia and pretty much everywhere else I can build various Italian troops.

Hang on…. Rome? Where’s the senate??? Its gone!! Sure enough that little message box in the bottom corner tells me the SPQR has been destroyed. Awww I always liked my pink bosses, sending me on crazy death marches to the other side of the globe and generally stirring it up. Oh well never mind - these snazzy new auxilia units should make up for it.

My first move is to ally with the Gauls - I’ll want a stable northern border whilst I wage war in the south. They agree straight off, so that’s good. A diplomat starting on Sicily also secures trade rights with Carthage. I’ll deal with them later methinks.

So I spend my first turn bumbling around, scraping up extra troops were I can and generally preparing for war. Nothing spectacular happens in the bad guys turn. I spend the second turn doing boring things again, but notice that the Greeks have emptied their garrisons in the south and are coming for me with 2 big armies - one under Pyrrhus and the other under Arpalos. Pyrrhus has the bigger army, war elephants and 6 command stars. Arpalos just has a jumble of the usual Greek units.

By this point I’m already bankrupt.

I spend my third turn panicking, and in the Greek turn they besiege Neapolis (Roman) and Bovianum (Rebel).

By nearly emptying my garrisons I have assembled a force about 3000 strong. This is superior to Arpalos but only equal with Pyrrhus. Arpalos besieging Bovianum is blocking my quick march to attack Pyrrhus - the only way to get him would be to march up to Rome, cross the central mountain range there and back south - I decide this will take too long and instead decide to attack Pyrrhus by going through Arpalos.

The battle plan is to hold the centre and left with Italian light infantry, skirmishers and Italian Spearmen whilst the “proper” roman troops race round the flank on the right.


Roman Formation at first Bovianum

As soon as the battle starts it becomes obvious that the Greeks aren’t as dumb as I expected - they’ve deployed a lot further back than I thought they would and also slightly to my right. The plan doesn’t quite work out as I’d hoped but the Italian spearmen get behind them, the Triarii move into the centre to block a Greek counter attack and the end is a Heroic victory for my faction Heir Publius Laevinius.

It occurs to me after the battle that it’s going to take me two turns to reach Pyrrhus anyway. All I’ve done is fought an extra battle along the way.

Doh!!!

Pyrrhus decides in the Greek turn not to sit around and wait for me - he instead launches an attack of his own against my army. At first I think this is a good thing. As his army starts to march towards mine I decide it might be a bad thing. As his elephants charge my skirmishers are on the wrong flank, being horribly killed by Greek cavalry and prodromi. I hope my Hastatii’s javelins might do the trick against the elephants, but they don’t. The Triarii are frantically deployed to prevent the Principes and allies being outflanked and are still fighting long after the forces they were deployed to protect have been destroyed by phalanx pikemen. One bright point is that towards the end of the battle the elephants rout and take some heavy casualties. There are no other bright points.

None.


Pyrrhus routs the romans at 2nd Bovianum

Publius Laevinius picks up a host of bad traits (Poor Defender & Indifferent Commander) and what’s left of the army falls back on Capua.

At the start of my turn however I notice that Pyrrhus, rather than push on into Roman territory has besieged Bovianum. Hooray!!!! Now I don’t have to pay my army (on account of them all being dead you understand) I have some money again. This goes into repairing the survivors and building some new units.

That winter (277bc) a storm hits Neapolis, doing a fair bit of damage - the message that accompanies it says the gods are displeased with some ones unroman behaviour. Sadly there isn’t a sacrifice Publius Laevinius button, so I shove him behind a desk and go looking for a new general. It occurs to me that a Republican army should really have 2 generals and so I pick a pair of likely looking lads named Herennius Munatius and Cassius Pleminius. This should also give me enough cavalry to cover both flanks.

By the time the army is ready to set out again the Greeks have taken Bovianum and another army, possibly shipped in from Syracuse is laying siege to Neapolis. I march south to deal with this threat, all the while glancing over my left shoulder at Bovianum, expecting Pyrrhus to come out and get me again.

After the AI has had its go sure enough a big Greek army is marching out to intercept me. However its only led by a captain. A quick look at Bovianum shows there is only one unit defending it. I can guess what this is. The phrase “Decapitation Strike” comes to mind.


By sending his army to attack the romans, Pyrrhus left himself vulnerable

However if I attack the city, the big Greek army will just hit me from behind whilst I'm besieging it and I’ll be in possibly a slightly worse situation than before. I suddenly think of a use for all those spies.

A couple of minutes later the foe I couldn’t defeat on the battlefield is lying dead, slain by vile treachery. Oh well, the Romans weren’t exactly known for being nice people. The extermination of the populace provides me with a nice cash injection too.

The Greeks are understandably upset and disturbed by this, the previous siege of Neapolis was lifted by the Greeks when I marched south with my army, but then in the winter of 276bc the Greeks struck back, lying siege to Bovianum with Pyrrhus’ army (minus the man himself of course) and attacking Neapolis with a slightly smaller force.

My main army led by Herennius and Cassius at Bovianum struck out at there besiegers, Cassius leading the majority of the army out of a side gate and engaging the Greeks as they moved to meet him. Herennius then piled out the front door with some skirmishers and Light Infantry.

The Greeks pulled some men back and mauled these forces badly, but didn’t leave enough stuff fighting Cassius who arrived just in time to save the day, utterly destroying what was left of the main Greek field army.

However it was a bloody fight, and many damaged units had to retire all the way to Rome for reinforcements, and my entrance massacre at Bovianum hadn’t exactly endeared the locals to me either. Whilst nearby towns frantically produced town watch units to garrison Bovianum and free up my main army again the Greeks were building the equipment they needed to storm Neapolis.

With my army only 1 turn away the Greeks burst into Neapolis, creating more breaches than the outnumbered defenders could easily cover. However they mauled the Greeks badly before breaking.


Desperate Italian Auxillaries defend Neapolis

By Summer 275BC the situation in the Southern Italian peninsula looks positively rosy! The Greeks are very weak in all their cities following the sieges of Bovianum and Neapolis and it should just be a matter of taking them one by one providing they don’t ship any reinforcements in.



On a final note this is a great mod, and If you haven’t downloaded it already there’s no reason not to as it can sit neatly alongside 5.4.1 in the provincial campaign mode.

[RabidGibbon]

The Rome Diaries

Revenge was quick in coming for the Greek capture of Neapolis. With a large Town Guard force now installed in Bovianum, Herennius and Cassius took the army and went in over the walls, kicking out the Greeks and refraining from butchering the population.


The Roman's liberate Neapolis. Most of the fighting took place on the far side of the Gatehouse.

So by the summer of 274bc the Greeks had been pushed back to their start line, with heavy casualties on both sides. I paused to reinforce my men and consolidate Bovianum, and had my battered Roman units fall back to Rome for retraining. The frontier was being held by Italian auxillaries. These were reinforced by 2 Hastatii cohorts who had missed the storming of Neapolis due to being refitted.

Whilst the bulk of the army was refitting in Rome news arrived that the Samnites had risen up and besieged Asculum, besieging my Faction Heir Quintus inside. Manius Amelius took those units that were ready to march and set off to defeat this rebellion. I’ll let him describe what happened in his own words,

“It was in the winter of 273bc that I set out from Roma, bound for Asculum to rescue Quintus. I knew that my forces were outnumbered, but I wasn’t worried for a second, because I am a true Roman you see.

As we approached the besiegers camp I drew my men up in a diamond formation, entirely of my own devising, and prepared to attack the enemy. Now you have to understand that your average Samnite is basically a coward at heart - and even though they had just as much infantry as me, with archers and cavalry support I knew they would be greatly afraid. Also apparently Quintus was marching on their flank or something but that isn’t really important.

Anyway, being a military genius I decided to attack head on - the Samnites were of course hiding in some woods, and began the battle with an unconventional charge by unsupported archers which I was able to beat off. On account of my genius you see.

As we approached I ordered my men to halt and begin throwing Pila at those foes that they could see, and sure enough this flushed out the rest of the rabble and myself and the Triarii (who I had cunningly held in reserve you see) outflanked the enemy to the right, whilst Quintus came out of the woods and attacked the enemy right. This wasn’t a very clever thing to do as he isn’t a military Genius and I had to ride over there with my cavalry and save him from some barbarian cavalry that ambushed him. I saved his life of course, but that’s all in a days work for a true Roman like me. The Enemy, seeing me in all my glory then took fear and ran away, and the battle was won!

Now if you excuse me I have to go drown some spiders in vinegar before they report all my secrets to my enemies. Oh, and did I mention I saved Quintus - the Faction Leader?”

Faction Leader Quintus flees attacking Samnites. Only a coutercharge from Manius Amelius saved the day.

Meanwhile the Greeks were massing troops along their border with Carthage in Sicily. This was hopeful news indeed - a war there would distract them from Southern Italia.

However the Greeks hadn’t given up just yet and launched there remaining troops on an offensive that laid siege once more to Neapolis and Bovianum. However they couldn’t cope with the reinforcements Manius Amelius brought south with him, and they retired, although at Bovianum Prodromi inflicted quite heavy casualties on my attacking troops before retreating intact.

I rested again trying to replace these casualties, and those taken fighting the Samnites, but in 271bc noticed a small army of Greeks marching from Croton to join a larger force in Tarentum. As this is exactly what happened before the last Greek offensive I decided to nip it in the bud and attack this small army, then ward off the Greek counterattack. This had the advantage that I would be fighting the Greeks piecemeal rather than all at once. The initial attack went well and the Greeks were destroyed, but the main Greek force turned up and a vicious battle ensued.

I deployed a skirmish screen in front of my men but the Greek Prodromi surprised me by outflanking me and then just charging into my redeployed skirmishers rather than trading Javelins with them as I’d hoped they might.


Skirmishers attempt to hold off Greek Prodromi

My heavy cavalry counter charged and drove them off, but they rallied and remained a thorn in my side throughout the battle, peppering my rear ranks with Javelins.

Meanwhile my front ranks were being rained on by Javelins from Greek peltasts. My combined Generals saw them off and my Italian spearmen and Hastatii quickly attacked the Greek phalanxes, the Italian spearmen going in head on whilst the Hastatii wrapped round the side. On the left side of the field this worked well enough but on the right some peltasts who had escaped my cavalry charge attacked the Hastatii and routed them, leaving the unreliable Italians to hold the line

Meanwhile the Prodromi, presumably out of javelins, mobbed and killed Herennius my general. This wasn’t looking good. My heavy cavalry eventually saw them off and began riding to aid the Italian infantry on the right. They lined up to charge the Greeks in the rear, but just before their charge hit home the Italians broke, the phalanx swivelled on the spot and the Greeks had invented the horsemeat kebab.

Despite destroying the Phalanx on my left it was too little too late and so I ordered my remaining troops to leg it - eager to save as many of my veterans for future battles as possible.

After this defeat my spies in Sicily reported a large army embarking on ships, destination unknown, but I had a reasonably good idea, and sent my fledgling republican navy to patrol the Straights of Messina.

Next turn the bulk of my roman troops returned from the north, and under the guiding hand of Cassius and Manius, and with the help of the same evil duo who had opened the gates of Bovianum where able to storm a lightly defended Tarentum.

Hmmm, I’m starting to notice a theme here, lose on the battlefield, win through treachery. I wonder if it will keep working in the next instalment?


The Roman Republic and "allied city states" in 270bc.

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

[RabidGibbon]

270BC to 265BC - Sieges, Rebellion and the Phoney Peace.

At the start of this turn the big Greek army from Sicily unloads near Croton and begins marching north. My Romans are mostly intact and garrisoning Tarentum, my most recent acquisition, whilst my Italian troops are further away, and also in need of retraining.

I leave Tarentum, garrisoning it with a handful of Town Watch and march north, deciding not to risk having the better half of my troops bottled up inside the city walls.

In the Greeks turn things don’t quite turn out as I’d hoped. No doubt hearing of their country men’s approach the Greeks of Tarentum rise up and kick out the garrison, this gives the Greeks enough troops to march north and besiege Bovianum with a small force, whilst the main army strikes at Neapolis. This is starting to feel like a first world war scenario!

At the start of my next turn the map looks exactly like it did 10 turns ago, I can’t believe the Greeks have made a comeback, not only recovering all their territory, but resuming the offensive into Roman territory. Either this is a really tough mod, or I’m really bad, I suspect it’s a bit of both. To cap it all the big rebel garrison of Arretium (In the north) keeps marching up to my borders and giving me dirty looks. I can’t spare any men to defend the north though, it’s all hands to the pump in the south.

Its not as bad as all that though I realise as I start regrouping my army for the counterattack. Its easily the biggest force I’ve put together since Pyrrhus beat me outside Bovianum, and possibly bigger. I’ve finally broken the cycle of having half my force away for refitting, and also added some Gallic Footmen to the order of battle. Sadly Herennius, who was starting to look like a good general is dead, but Manius Amelius and Cassius Pleminius have fought a fair few battles between them.

So I set off to battle, the plan is to relieve Bovianum and then march on the main enemy force outside Neapolis. This is exactly the same plan I used which led to my first defeat by Pyrrhus, but he’s gone now, and I’m reasonably confident. As we approach Bovianum the Greeks retreat to a better defensive position, and I send in my army to fight the 3rd battle of Bovianum. An account of this battle was recorded by an unknown scribe, who was told it by Plebius Commonus, a Hastatii Footman in the Roman Army.

“3rd Bovianum, 3rd Bovianum, don’t talk to me about bloody 3rd Bovianum. For starters right, we had to climb up this bleedin’ mountain - and I don’t mean hill - it was a mountain. So there we are, having to use our hands to clamber up this cliff face and these Greek sods start dropping stuff on us.

Anyway by the time we get to the top the Italians are lagging behind of course, and all our skirmishers have buggered off chasing some Cavalry, and where stood there like a right bunch of Charlie’s whilst these what do you call ‘ems - Peltasts yeah that’s it - are pounding us like its open season on Hastatii or something. Anyway were not having that are we, so were giving ‘em a taste of the old pilum magic, and they all just dodge out of the way, or leap behind a rock and stuff like that.

So then the Greeks come steaming in with a load of Hoplites, and were looking for the Principes and Triarii, and there only half way up the bleeding hill aren’t they. Turns out the half-witted general has only gone and told them to march, whilst we’ve been giving it twenty to the dozen like. So there was nothing for it but to go in with the ole’ Gladius and have you ever tried doing that against a geezer with a 8 foot pig sticker? And this is in a battle with us outnumbering them 3 to 1? Only bleeding Manius Spider Killer has made a right pigs ear of it and so us poor bloody Hastatii are outnumbered in the fight and end up having to be saved by the Italian Spearmen of all people. Well, they say they saved us, but I still say we could have had them Hoplites - they were just about to break anyways I tell ya."

The Romans at 3rd Bovianum faced a steep climb before the batle had even begun.

As indicated above the 3rd Battle of Bovianum was a very bloody affair, with a vastly superior Roman force taking a lot of unnecessary casualties.

After this many units were badly mauled, but Neapolis was still under siege, and the bad guys were making siege engines. I couldn’t spare the time to retrain, and needed all the men I had. So the Army marched towards Neapolis and the Greeks rose to the challenge, lifted the siege and attacked me in their turn.

The Greeks were numerous and very well equipped, with several units of Armoured Hoplites, Cavalry and even a ballista! Before the battle I was rather concerned they might just stand off and pound me with this, but in the event things worked out differently.

Concerned at the advantages the Greeks had I decided to try an ambush, setting up between two forests (which would hopefully provide cover against the enemy cavalry too) with the Gauls providing the ambush on my left, and the Hastatii providing what I planned would be the killing blow on the right. Italian Spearmen took up the place of the Hastatii in the front rank, Principes and Triarii behind them, Skirmishers in front.

The Greeks started with a cavalry charge on my left, flushing out the Gauls, but failing to rout them. The Greek Infantry then followed up with a head on assault, and I had to call on the Principes to bolster them up. I also noticed that the Armoured Hoplites weren’t phalanx men, but rather had the shorter Triarii issue spear. I thought this would work in favour of the AI, which has a hard time coping with the inflexible Phalanx formation.

Seeing my frontline engaged I launched the Hastatii out of their hiding places, however the Greeks still had enough reserves to meet this new threat, but it seemed the tide was turning in my favour.

Then the Gauls on the left broke, and only a charge with my two general heavy cavalry plugged the gap. The enemy general also fell in the furious cavalry melee that ensued. However seconds later my own general Manius Amelius was killed. With everything in the balance I reformed the Triarii into narrow columns and raced them through the gaps that were starting to appear in the Greek formation. Suddenly under attack from the flank and rear the Greeks started to break, and when my Cavalry polished off their Greek counterparts and added their weight to the attack the enemy fled en masse.


1 - Gauls hit by enemy cavalry, both generals killed in heavy fighting
2 - Main Greek force attacks
3 - Hastatii attempt at outflanking becomes bogged down
4 - Triarii breakthrough and rout enemy line

It was a hard won victory however, and so soon after the mauling I had received at Bovianum my “biggest ever army” was starting to look a bit thin on the ground. I noticed at the start of my turn that as well as the attack on my army, another Greek force (presumably shipped in across the adriatic) had laid siege to Bovianum again.

However I was sick and tired of responding to Greek attacks and figured I f I marched on Croton then the Greeks would have to follow. I picked Croton over Tarentum as my target because it was the furthest from Bovianum and the Greeks would have to chase me further.

Sure enough the Greeks gave chase but proved reluctant to attack, and a lengthy siege of Croton began, with me unwilling to risk my battered units against a moderately well defended stone wall, preferring instead to whittle them down through starvation.

However all was not well up north. The Samnites had decided to take advantage of my armies departure to Greek lands and rebelled, raising armies near Bovianum and Capua.

Taking advantage of the 0 turn recruitment of Hastatii and other Roman infantry units (a nice touch that I think) I quickly raised a force to deal with these rebels. Amulius Coruncanius took charge of this force, and in two by the numbers battles defeated the hapless Samnites, returning to Rome for reinforcements between battles.


Amulius Coruncanius used this force to defeat the Samnite rebellion of 268 BC

I was surprised to see that the Greeks offered me Trading rights in the summer of 266BC, when my turn started I saw that they had allied with the Gauls, thus creating a ceasefire automatically. I worried that the Gauls were planning a northern attack when the Greeks resumed hostilities which I had very little available to repel.

This unexpected Ceasefire also lifted the siege of Croton, which had been close to falling. Rather than risk the ire of the Gauls and attack the Greeks I retreated with my tail between my legs to refit my battered field army.

The Greeks quickly resumed the war by blockading one of my ports, and I was pleasantly surprised when the Gauls sided with me, and cancelled their Greek alliance.

So, this instalment ends with the Greeks back in possession of Croton and Tarentum, and me plotting a simultaneous attack on both for the next instalment, just as soon as I’ve fixed my army. Hopefully that might work this time!

[The Wizard]

Looks bloody great!

However, I'll be a nitpicking bastard and say that this is supposed to be in the Throne Room. Besides that comment being annoying, moving it there will blow some life into that old place!

It's great, a lot of work went into this AAR. Please continue!



~Wiz

[RabidGibbon]

265bc to 260bc - The Republic Strikes Back.


The frontier with the Greeks was quiet for a few turns, giving me the chance I needed to reorganise and retrain my troops for the next “Big Push” which would hopefully drive the Greeks into the sea.

Before I could attack my faction leader Quintus died, and a familiar face appeared to take over.


Despite a poor battlefield record Publius Laevinus was elected dictator of rome in 263bc

Gah! I knew I meant to change my faction heir. Still at least all that time behind a desk has made him a superb administrator.

The Greeks launched a small army over the border which besieged Bovianum, then decided to go after Neapolis instead. These men were easily driven back over the border by my two field armies as they moved to the start line.


The plan to defeat the remaining Greeks in Italia

Going after Tarentum were my auxiliary forces, supplemented by some Hastatii and including some newly recruited Gallic and Italian cavalry. These were led by Cassius Pleminius, who had never commanded an army before, but had participated in every battle I fought against the Greeks since 275bc - this was his chance to shine.

Meanwhile fresh from crushing the Samnites came Amulius Coruncanius leading the vast majority of my Roman troops and aiming for Croton. The two towns would be attacked simultaneously giving them no opportunity to aid each other.

There will be no dawn for Greeks!

After much messing about the attack was finally launched in the summer of 262bc, both cities being besieged without any resistance. The armies began building the siege equipment they would need to take these cities.

Meanwhile a German ambassador arrived, proposing alliance and offering trade rights and map information. I accepted this with future visions of crushing the Gauls between us later on in the campaign. This came sooner than I thought as hearing that his diplomatic proposal had been accepted the German King got exceptionally drunk to celebrate, and whilst under the influence launched an invasion of Gaul.

I decided Gaul had been deciding Roman foreign policy for too long (I’d previously cancelled alliances with Iberia for fear of upsetting them, and as related earlier had hesitated to attack the Greeks when they allied with the Gauls) and sided with the Germans. Both of my armies were ready to launch their assaults so my southern frontier would soon be secure and then they could rush north and “unite” Italia.

The attack on Tarentum was launched first, the troops going in over the walls and seizing the gatehouse for the cavalry who rushed in and seized the town centre. In their eagerness to retake it a single unit of Greek Prodromi wiped out a cohort of Hastatii and 2 regiments of Italian spearmen, but I set the Gallic cavalry on them and the situation was soon restored. Remembering their recent revolt against me (and looking at my -3000 denarii bank balance) I decided to exterminate the populace.


Hastatii and Italian Spearmen hold off hoplites whilst Cassius leads cavalry to the city centre

At Croton Amulius had a much larger force to launch his attack with, but the Greek defenders were more numerous than at Tarentum. There was heavy fighting on the walls as troops raced up them using ladders, but they became bogged down in heavy fighting, and only when the siege towers disgorged there cargo of Hastatii onto the defenders did the gatehouse finally fall.


Siege Towers unload yet more Romans troops onto the walls of Croton

Those cohorts who tried descending from the walls now met with determined resistance in the streets and not until unengaged forces found another way down and attacked the Greeks in the rear did the tide start to turn in their favour.

However all this was a sideshow as the fall of the gatehouse meant that my reserves were free to march in unopposed to the city centre itself where the defending Greeks were quickly overwhelmed from all sides.


Roman troops pour into Croton

Immediately after this double whammy I sent ambassadors to the Greeks offering a ceasefire. This was refused and I sat back to consider whether it would be necessary to leave a strong garrison in the south when the Carthaginians solved my dilemma for me by attacking the Greek colonies in Sicily.

Although concerned at Carthage’s growing strength in Sicily (They had taken the Rebel City, and outnumber the Greeks considerably in troop numbers) at least it solved my immediate problems as I the Greeks quickly accepted my Ceasefire offer in the face of this new threat.

I spent the remaining few turns until 260bc shuffling garrisons about and getting my forces as ready as they could be for what promises to be an interesting campaign in the next instalment - pushing the Gauls back beyond the Alps.

*****************************************************

Wrong Forum eh? Oh dear, still may as well be hung for a sheep as well as a lamb so I'll carry on in this thread and hopefully a friendly passing mod can move the whole shooting match into the Throne Room.

[RabidGibbon]

260bc - 250bc. Cassius’ Northern Campaign.


It was 258bc before I was ready to start my campaign to conquer Northern Italy. The first blow would not fall against the Gauls but rather against the free city of Arretium. Cassius Pleminus marched north with as many men as one general could command.

The tactic was not to immediately besiege Arretium whose garrison was even more numerous than the forces I had put together for this expedition, but instead to tempt them out onto the open field where they could be quickly and easily destroyed. With Arretium under Roman control my forces could then start the war against the Gauls in earnest.

The plan worked, although the rebels did not send as many men as I had hoped they would - my army outnumbered theirs by about a third as they had left nearly 40% of their men at home.


The mighty force assembled to storm Arretium

The approaching rebels front ranks were mown down by a hail of pila, and the cavalry soon saw off their skirmishers. The Hastatii clashed with the enemy warbands and millita hoplites, the principes moved up into support and before the Triarii could get involved the rebels were fleeing in terror.

Cassius followed up this victory by laying siege to Arretium.

Back home the conquest of Italia was bringing in a nice amount of money, and I was starting to “assimilate” various cities into my empire. Hopefully I would be able to start producing better troops in other cities soon, as constantly recruiting all my Hastatii, Principes and Triarii was causing an unhealthy population drain in what should be my finest city. I resolved to increase the numbers of Italians and Gauls in my armies from now on - hopefully my conquest of Northern Italy would provide me with a pool of fierce Gallic tribesmen for my armies.

The siege of Arretium dragged on - with no relief force coming to save the rebels there was little need to launch a potentially costly assault. Meanwhile strange goings on were happening near Rome, a captured slave named Unluckius Maximus may be able to shed more light on this…

“I worked in one of the vin yards of that famous wine merchant Galerius Figulus along with about a thousand other slaves. It was hard work, unpaid and unappreciated. Then one day Galerius Figulus came riding through on a horse, and in armour too, which is weird because normally he’s too drunk to ride a horse and rides in a litter.

All the slave overseers were with him too, they had armour and swords too. Galerius stood up in the saddle and started giving us all a speech about how the God Jupiter had come to him in a dream, and told him that he was the long lost heir of the last King of Rome - how Publius Laevinus was a weak leader and should be cast down.

Last of all he said that any of us who fought for him would be freed when he won, and any who refused would be crucified. Everyone agreed. He told us all to go to the kitchens and find weapons for ourselves. I couldn’t find a knife but I did manage to pocket a nice looking silver fork. In the end I pulled up one of the vin yard stakes to use as a spear.

We marched north towards Rome, and laid siege to it, but no one knew how to make any siege equipment so we settled down to starve them out. I built myself a nice wooden hut, and we spent our days out and about looking for food. It was a lot more fun than working in the vin yards I can tell you.

After about a month or so I was coming back to the camp after doing some fishing when I noticed it was on fire. All of us who had been out foraging gathered on a hill, and after a while Galerius found us and announced that Cassius Pleminus had returned and gathered a army from the nearby cities. We lined up to face them in the morning, and I noticed we outnumbered them by quite a bit. However they all had spears and swords and shields and stuff like that. They marched up to us and started throwing Javelins at us - it was really awful so I decided to back off out of range. Once I was out of range I decided to keep going, and so did most of my pals. A few days ago a patrol of Italian cavalry men captured me, and I managed to convince them not to kill me by giving them the silver fork I still had.

Eager to make more cash they sold me to the local salt mine, where I noticed Galerius Figulus was there too. The work in the salt mine is a lot harder than at the vin yard, but at least we all get to give Galerius a good kicking every night.”

Javelins rain down on Galerius' unfortunate slaves.

Cassius’ quick march south, taking only his cavalry with him and rallying the local garrisons put paid to this threat, but a new one had already appeared. The Gauls, apparently guessing what would happen after Arretium fell launched an attack across my borders, besieging Ariminum. Rather than split the forces still besieging Arretium I decided to storm the city, then go deal with the Gauls.

My forces went over the walls quickly, and whilst some Millita Hoplites blocked the obvious route to the city centre and inflicted heavy casualties on those Principes who were trying to break through some Hastatii found a less obvious route to the centre and surrounded and destroyed the rebels that were holding this position.


Fighting your way through chokepoints is one of the hazards of siege warfare

However the citizenry of Arretium were proving to be an unruly and obnoxious bunch, and a large portion of my army had to be left to keep them in good order. However Cassius and his ad-hoc army came steaming up the Apennine way and linked up with the main force out of Arretium quickly driving off the Gauls.

I then altered the axis of my advance, and quickly took Segesta and Bononia in quick succession. It was the winter of 254bc before the Gauls (presumably all up north fighting the germans) managed to scrape together enough men to arrange a counterattack. And laid siege to Segesta.

Meanwhila around Bovianum the Samnites were playing the old rebellion game again and I dug up Amulius Coruncanius from his plush governorship job and sent him back out into the field.

Breaking my promise to myself I quickly recruited a big army of Hastatii (‘cos there cheap) and sent them out to face the Samnites.

As the two armies approached the battle turned into two massive brawls, in which the Samnites were routed on the right, but were only prevented from winning the larger melee on the left when some Italian cavalry plugged the gap caused by some routing Hastatii, and the Principes who had been fighting on the right hit them in the rear.


The 3rd (or is it 4th) great Samnite uprising

Meanwhile Cassius, based in the newly conquered city of Bononia sent his remaining intact units (The sieges of Segesta and Bononia had been quick but not bloodless) to push back the Gauls besieging Segesta. This proved easy enough, but in their turn the Gauls returned with an much larger force.

The outnumbered defenders formed a simple line across the battlefield and fought a remarkably bloody battle with the Gauls, which ended in a close victory for my good self.

However there wasn’t now a single intact cohort anywhere on the Gallic frontier, and as I received word from my ambassadors that Iberia and Gaul had signed a ceasefire my mind was full of images of terrifying Gallic hordes coming pouring over the undermanned border.

I decided to make a dash for Rome to rebuild these battered units leaving just the minimum troops necessary to prevent my new conquests raising up against me on the frontier.

It was at this point that a big German army descended out of the Alps and laid siege to Patavium. This was a bad thing - if they took Patavium I’d have to go to war with them to claim all of Italia as my own, and the Germanic empire at this point is looking quite the big scary beast.


The German Reich

The German siege failed however, with high casualties on each side, the perfect result really. The Gauls then launched an assault on Bononia, but Amulius was leading up the newly reinforced army by now and the Gauls quickly fled.

With a great big army and my two most experienced commanders at its head I decided to launch an assault on Patavium before the Gauls could return. Like in my assault on Arretium the purpose of this attack was two fold, aiming both to capture the city and hopefully force the Gauls to gather a large army and do battle.

However the Gauls preferred to hover around the city and rush in to defend it once my attack began.


Lugortorix was a fearsome foe, but heavily outnumbered

The Gallic leader (a potentially fearsome foe) was killed fighting the Triarii as they stormed the gate, but some chosen swordsmen did a effective brick wall impersonation as I rushed my men towards the city centre. Some Principes tried to pull off the old trick of finding another route to the central plaza, but they met the fearsome Venetii Bagdenum when they arrived there and were badly mauled.

In the end only a mad charge by the Italian and Gallic cavalry combined was enough to break the Gauls resistance.

So by 250bc I’ve conquered most of italia, and I’m starting to consider my next objective, push on into Gaul proper, turn around and invade Sicily (allying with either the Carthaginians or Greeks, probably the Greeks) or maybe switching sides again in the German/Gaul war and grabbing the German menace by the horns and pushing into the dark forests of northern Europe.


The Roman Republic and "Allied city states" 250bc

[Monk]

since this is an AAR and not an actual written story, i'll spare my nitpicking and just say...

Well done

[RabidGibbon]

250bc-245bc.

Well a reinstall has resulted in mixed results. The starting screen still looks weird but I can now start the game up and it seems to run ok.

So where were we? Cassius Victor, my longest serving and probably best general has taken Patavium, and generally herded the Gauls like sheep before him. Only Mediolanium remains in Gaul hands (In Italia at least) and this is poorly defended.

Oddly however there are a fair few Greek armies wandering around. There too small to be a real threat, but combined with the lack of Gallic reinforcements in Northern Italia it makes me wonder if Massalia is a Greek city in this mod. That would explain a lot.

Economy is healthy, I can support (I expect) about two stacks of troops in the field, however this would leave all my cities worryingly disloyal and adversely affect tax income, so I’ve never tried doing this, and at the moment am only fighting a guerrilla war against the Gauls, chasing little armies around and building various “Cultural Subversion Buildings” in the north. Hopefully this will teach those barbarians to fight properly.

In the meantime I’m busily recruiting a Gallic army in Segesta and Patavium for the final push on Mediolanium. A spanner is thrown in this plan when a Gaul army lays siege to Segesta in 248bc. They have two cavalry and some skirmishers against my 3 Gallic auxilia and Roman General.

I advanced on what I thought were the overconfident Gauls, but sadly my attacking forces had no stomach for fighting there fellow countrymen. Their rout was so spectacular as to make me wonder if auxilia get morale penalties when fighting their fellow countrymen. The gates of Segesta were slammed shut in the face of the attackers however and the city was just saved.

The Gauls withdrew when a reinforcement column that was on its way to Bononia was diverted to relieve the town.


It was in 247bc that a Greek ambassador approached me with an offer of an alliance. As has happened before what the AI diplomat was offering spontaneously pretty much matched my future plans - an invasion of Carthage’s territories in Sicily - Greek assistance in this would make it much easier.

But these grand schemes would have to wait until I’d finished off the Gauls south of the Alps. Such was the pressure the Germans were exerting in the north the Gauls were now withdrawing troops from the frontier with me.

Amulius Victor (Of Samnite crushing fame) set off with Quintus Clodius who had arrived from the south with reinforcements. They had with them large numbers of Gauls, Italians and a small number of Triarii and Hastatii plus the Gallic Cavalry (The Italian Cavalry currently being in the South for retraining).

Cassius Victor remained in Patavium with a nearly all roman force. My reasons for this were mainly that I felt my auxilia troops needed experience badly to be of any use at all, and the capture of Mediolanium looked a fairly easy job.

The attack on Mediolanium went smoothly until the actual assault. A regiment of Italian spearmen hammered down one section of the walls and were horrified to be assailed by a band of whooping, naked Gauls.


At Mediolanium naked fanatics proved fearsome opponnents


Like any sensible man would they immediately turned tail and fled. As troops poured in several other breaches in the enemy walls my Gallic cavalry counter charged the fanatics who were now running amok over the entire battle field, but the cavalry were sadly mauled as a result. Only when the Triarii stood in their path and my Quintius Clodius charged them in the rear did the Gauls finally break.

Those forces who were trying to break in however could no longer be supported by my reserves as I had planned (Because I was using them to stop this nudist rampage) and were being sadly mauled by Gallic swordsmen. Only by advancing over a carpet of my own dead did my forces eventually reach the city centre and claim an at best dubious victory.

It was at this point that a grandson of Publius Laevinus came of age, who had unfortunately not been named. This was a slight oversight, but understandable considering the pressures of work a roman governor has to labour under.


He always felt his family didn't appreciate him

Now with Mediolanium taken I turned my gaze south. Once I had fortified assorted mountain passes and made Italia safe I was determined to build a proper navy and go find some more interesting foes. But before that whilst campaigning in the north there had been several rebellions against my rule. A Greek/Samnite force was pillaging the countryside around Tarentum and another force was laying waste to the lands north of Roma.

However as I started selecting units to send south the Gauls launched a counterattack, besieging Mediolanium with an army slightly smaller than its garrison. I sallied immediately and a blood bath ensued in which neither side managed to do anything decisive.

Cassius Victor was in Patavium however with a small all Roman army, and with the help of some garrison troops from my more northern cities he set out to relieve the city. The first troops to set off for the rendezvous point were ambushed by rebel war bands. Fortunately they were promptly seen off long before Cassius arrived.


Po river valley rebels face off against Gallic auxilia and Hastatii

Meanwhile with some troops who had been being repaired in Rome and Capua I set off for Tarentum, under the command of the Nameless One, aiming to link up with the powerful garrison I had left there to keep those damned Greeks in order.

The majority of the garrison slipped past the rebels and then the two forces united to deal out some justice to the rebels.

The battle plan massed all my cavalry on my right (The Italians and two Generals) whilst on my left were two lines of Italians, light infantry leading spearmen. The centre was held by a line of Hastatii supported by a line of Principes.


The opposing battle lines at Tarentum

The Cavalry wrapped round the left, the Italians getting so ahead of themselves they were able to strike an enemy cavalry attack on my right in the back, whilst the enemy phalanxes attempting to halt my centre were dragged out of position and destroyed individually.

So, the closing position is Cassius poised to lift the siege of Mediolanium (before the Load/Save bug kicks in!) whilst a small rebel army north of Roma needs to be dealt with. Capua will soon be roman enough to start churning out proper republican units and take some of the strain off Roma. I expect the next post will be quite dull with me messing around fortifying borders and building what I need to start a successful war with Carthage.

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

[RabidGibbon]

245bc - 240bc

Well, as promised this instalment started off very slowly. The Gauls besieging Mediolanium legged it when Cassius attacked, and I let them disappear off into the alps. The easy job for the auxilia had proved anything but, and Amulius Victor and Quintus Clodius limped out of Mediolanium with about a third of the forces they had left Patavium with a few years before.

My next step as advertised above would be to take a full stack army and conquer Carthage’s territories in Sicily. My spies and diplomats reported that the Greeks definitely seem to have Carthage on the back foot now, and I want to move quickly to get a foot hold established.

After a short period of preparation my economy is struggling under the weight of the massive recruitment drive, as I intend to have plenty of reinforcements for my army. The first choice commander is of course Cassius Victor (Now calling himself Cassius the Honest). However the citizens of Patavium really can’t bear to see him leave, so Amulius Victor gets the job instead.

The Army gathered just south of Rome includes many of my most experienced troops and consists of:

1 Amulius Victor and cavalry bodyguard
3 Hastatii
4 Principes
2 Triarii
4 Italian Light Infantry
2 Italian Spearmen
2 Gallic Spear Auxillia
1 Italian Cavalry
1 Gallic Cavalry

The battle plan (Which I’ve been wanting to implement from downloading this mod) is to form up with the Hastatii, Principes and Triarii in the centre in the traditional 3 lines whilst the allied troops take the flanks, light infantry forward and spearmen behind. Cavalry as usual on the farthest flanks.

All I need now is someone to fight. There’s a few rebel armies hanging around north of Rome, but I’m going to deal with them using garrison troops rather than dirty my nice shiny new army on them.

The navy has returned from the Adriatic and with my German allies fending off the Gauls my northern border is nice and safe so Amulius Victor is ready to take ship to Sicily. I’m quite looking forward to fighting civilized troops again, and the phalanx free Carthaginian forces should make a change from the Greeks…

Then a German full stack army crosses the border and lays siege to Patavium. Sigh. Its back north again boys. The road north is cleared of Rebel’s by the nameless one, recruiting troops from city garrisons, which gives my main army a clear run up my nice paved roads to Patavium where Cassius the Honest is besieged.

So in the winter of 242bc my army is facing off against its most numerous opponent since the Greek wars.

The Germans however are outflanked before the battle has even begun. Cassius should be appearing with 750 men on their rear left, whilst several hundred Greeks should be plugging the gap between Amulius and Cassius.

My main army also outnumbers the Germans by 300 men. As Amulius points out before the kick off, theirs over of a quarter of my empires forces on the field, and he’s come here to fight.


Germans and Romans face off at Patavium

And as the battle starts it looks like a fight is what he’ll get. None of the reinforcements have shown up, and the Germans have come off their starting line like a whipped dog. I hold in place, hoping to hose them down with javelins as they get closer.

Not being born yesterday the Germans halt just out of javelin range and as one let off a fearsome war cry. My Allies rush them, hoping to interrupt this, whilst my Hastatii close the range and pepper their lance men with pila.

On my left the Germans waste no time smashing the Gaul auxilia’s facing them, and routing the gallic cavalry into the bargain. On the other flank the Italian cavalry are halted but not routed along with the majority of my Italian allies.


The left flank begins to crumble

I send both Triarii to the left, but only one makes it as the other is drawn into a ferocious melee that is kicking off in the centre. Amulius Victor races to the right as the Italians are wavering and giving ground. The Reinforcements arrive, but the German advance means that Cassius is a hell of a distance away. The Greeks are closer, but only have light peltasts.

On the left the single Triarii unit is working miracles, holding off several German units until the Gauls rally and come racing back to help out. The enemy centre is also giving ground on my right, giving the battle an odd L shaped look. My general is accidentally caught up in the fighting on the right flank, where my forces are still struggling. Long lines of Germans are streaming away from the centre but many units are still holding.


The Germans are slowly pushed back in the centre

Suddenly I get a cut scene of my general being killed, accompanied by the voice over for the enemy general falling. Sure enough two sword icons reveal both generals have fallen almost simultaneously.

At this news my right begins to crumble, if they fall my centre, which due to the odd shape the battle has taken, will be showing its rear to these newly freed up German troops. With no more reserves left I have nothing to do except shout at the computer.

Despair hits as two large intact formations of troops come racing up on my right, their ragged formation is unlike any my Romans use and their about to hit me on the flank. But No! it’s the Greeks.


German Nobles fight to the last man against Greek Peltasts

They plough into the Germans like hero’s and all except a hard core of noble spearmen run. The Nobles die, and it’s me who’s planning a flank attack to win the battle (as you can probably tell from the screen shots I play with banners turned off, this can make for some very confusing battles.)

I race around my centre and flank the main body of Germans who don’t know which way to run. On the left, once again some nobles are determined to die rather than run, but the battle is over and theirs nothing left to do except count the cost.

It was a hell of a fight and if the Germans have another army like that up their sleeve it’s all over for poor old me, but as troops race south for refitting its starting to look like they don’t.



1 - Left flank breaks under German attack
2 - Romans attack in centre
3 - Attack on right stalled until Greeks arrive
4 - German centre takes up new posistion
5 - Triarii halt German breakthrough
6 - Troops from right flank outflank german centre winning the battle
RED - Roman attack
BROWN - German attack
YELLOW - Greek attack


The Vital Statistics


My main objective at the moment is to get the Macedonians and Gauls into a anti Germanic alliance (The Macedonians have advanced north and have a land border with the Germans in the Balkans and the Gauls are at war with me and the Germans, I’d rather they concentrated their efforts).

So its rebuild my army and prepare for new battles against the treacherous Germans.

[RabidGibbon]

240bc to 235bc.

As the 230’s start another bunch of peasants revolt near Roma, however young Aulus Pacuvius leads an army out, and uses the traditional bombardment of javelins to break the rebel scum. Losing less than 20 men he wipes out a rebel force of over a 1000 peasants and march’s north to join the not inconsiderable forces on the Gallic/German border.

The Germans are quiet on this front and the Gauls aren’t doing too much either. Hopefully their busy beating the tar out of each other.

I decide my strategy should be to punish the treacherous Germans, whilst holding off the Gauls. I get to test this early when a small Gaul army lays siege to Mediolanium. However when the garrison sallies out the Gauls decide they didn’t really mean it and all run off.

The seasons pass and more reinforcements arrive on my northern border. My plan is to drive straight north into Germany proper. I don’t want a northern European empire, but I do want to trash the German’s best cities, hopefully crippling their economy and troop production abilities.

Ambassadors bring word that the Germans have ended their war’s with Sarmatia and the Greek Cities. However last time I had a spy on the German/Gaul border that seemed to be where the action was at.

Quintius Clodius with a modest army sets out over the Alps for Iuvavum (A German town) in the summer of 239bc. Cassius the Honest drops dead whilst waving him off. This is a shame as he was the General who pretty much won me all of Northern Italy.

A small force of tribesmen so primitive their not even wearing clothes blocks Quintius path as he moves north, however a combination of a frontal assault by Gallic auxillia whilst the Gallic cavalry crashes into their rear and puts them to flight.

Some reinforcements intended to join him are instead sent to garrison Patavium, with Cassius gone the locals are being as objectionable as ever, and my Greek allies have a medium sized army hovering about in the area, not that I don’t trust them or anything.

However the Greeks are soon on their way and Quintius Clodius lays siege to Iuvavum. The garrison is tiny and I expect to take it quickly. That same turn however some bad news arrives. The Germans and Gauls have decided to put their differences aside in the name of that most noble of causes, Killing Romans.

Almost immediately a German army is sighted coming through the mountain passes from Gaul, obviously re-routed when word of the treaty arrived. Fortunately I have a large garrison at Patavium that races out to confront them.


Principes engage german axemen

My forces consisting of 4 Hastatii, 2 Principes a Triarii and 3 skirmishers have to attack uphill, with the Germans basing their defence around two units of Lance men. Those forces who go in head on take a pounding, but some Hastatii get around the side and flank them, before a victory over some German axe men sees my Principes on the other flank getting behind the Lance men and winning the battle.


Hastatii hit the rear of a German phalanx

This force is then able to return to Mediolanium and return to watching the Gaul frontier.

Meanwhile the army laying siege to Iuvavum is leapt upon by a horde of German axe men. The defenders of Iuvavum sortie out and add their weight to the attack. Quintius Clodius agreed to talk to a scribe about it,

“Are you writing yet… good. Now then Iuvavum, winter of 239bc. Jolly good fight. We wanted to keep some Germans out and some Germans in. So I had all my spearmen line up. Gauls mainly, except for the one who weren’t. Some were Italian’s. Don’t like Italians myself, but one has to deal with them occasionally. I understand they do my laundry and the other day I got my best white tunic back, and it still had blood stains on it - most unsatisfactory. What battle? Iuvavum? Never been there. Except for winter 239bc of course. Now the interesting thing about the winter of 239bc is that that’s when Gaul and the Ptolemaic empire went to war. Now many people claim that this was just strange and pointless but I happen to know that the cultural ramifications were indeed important. What’s that? No I don’t want to talk about Iuvavum. Shut up and listen you pointless little man. Now where was I. Ah yes, the most important facet of Greek-Carthaginian relations leading up to their was over Sicily was not as many people think the Panormous Incident but rather….”

German Axemen advance at Iuvavum

Suffice to say the Germans attacked in a column formation which was outflanked easily. German Nobles who came racing out of the town to assist made the mistake of ignoring some Hastatii and Principes who were on their left, held higher ground and had orders to fire at will. The result was probably some of the most effective Pilum throwing I’ve ever witnessed as over a 120 of this German elite were cut down before the Gallic Cavalry in combination with Italian Spearmen broke them.

After this battle Iuvavum fell quickly. The Germans sent ambassadors demanding I become their protectorate, which were politely ignored (I remember a game called Spartan, rushed out just before R:TW in which you had a choice of horrible things you could do to foreign envoys, from exile to blinding to boiling alive - I sometimes wish R:TW had included options like that for moments like this).

As I spat insults at their ambassadors a full stack German army appeared out of the great northern forests and menaced Iuvavum. I responded by retraining my Gallic auxillia but their was little else I could do on the scene. However my aging faction leader (Lucius Aemilius), determined to achieve some glory after a lifetime of administration in Roma marched out at the head of all the troops I could spare to relieve Iuvavum and march on into the heart of Germany.


Situation on the northern border 237bc

The Germans however were playing their own twisted little game and bypassed Iuvavum and waited for Lucius just north of Patavium. Lucius was outnumbered by nearly a third, and his troops were mainly inexperienced auxillia, I didn’t like the odds. However if Quintius Clodius were to hurry south from Iuvavum the Germans would be caught between two armies and a great victory could be won!

I put the plan into action, Lucius Aemilius marched north to squaring off against the barbarians and reinforcing his strength with most of the Patavium garrison and recruiting local mercenaries. Leaving some spearmen and the Gallic cavalry behind him Quintius marched south, only to find the Greeks that had been hanging around Patavium were blocking the pass. It was too late for Lucius to pull back and in the bad guys go the Germans once again demanded I become a protectorate only to receive the usual barrage of hate fuelled insults.

Determined to teach me manners they attacked Lucius. I formed up trying to use the terrain to my advantage. The Gallic auxillia would mass on the right flank, hidden from view and fall on the enemy rear once battle began. The rest of my forces formed a rather thin looking defensive line, hidden from prying German eyes in the trees.


The order of battle at Patavium

As the Germans advanced it became obvious I had underestimated the length of their battle line, they were going to hit the Gauls before my defensive line. In vain I advanced my main forces, deliberately showing them to the foe in the hope that they would veer in towards them.

However it was not to be and as the Germans flushed out the Gauls it was obvious I would have to charge with my main force or be destroyed piecemeal. My attack was as uncoordinated and ineffective as any half assed, unplanned assault would be. I believe only by hitting Ctrl-A and W was my army spared complete annihilation as the Germans lacked any cavalry for effective pursuit.


The sons of the wolf and the bear advance at Patavium


Gauls wait to spring the trap

One bright spot was that the Germans did not immediately follow up by attacking Patavium, and many otherwise doomed troops were able to escape south of the River to Bononia. Meanwhile another equally formidable force had laid siege to Iuvavum.

The Greeks finally made way for Quintius Clodius who was too late to save Lucius but was able to save himself, and met up with the remainder of Lucius Aemilius’ force at Bononia.

A lot of men were now pulled back from the Garrison at Mediolanium, as in the event of the Gauls besieging it there was no relief army to be sent to save them. Quintius Clodius guarded the ford north of Bononia whilst behind him the forces of the republic desperately regrouped and re-equipped.

Sure enough the Gauls laid siege to Mediolanium with a hefty looking army, and the Germans captured Patavium, whose defenders disgraced themselves by surrendering en masse after killing a paltry number of attackers, and taught me he importance of always keeping a unit in the town centre, when my entire army routed at the gate’s the battle was over, despite my having 671 men still in the town.


A German ram at the walls of Patavium

At Iuvavum the defenders put up a better fight but still lost - tragically the Gallic cavalry, veterans of the Greek wars and present in so many battles since their recruitment were wiped out in this siege.

Next turn Mediolanium fell, and for the first time since the war to take Southern Italia I feel seriously on the back foot - the Gaul/German alliance has taken 3 of my cities without any real losses on their part. This could well be the darkest hour of the Republic.


Some depressing statistics

[King Ragnar]

Excellent story, cant wait for the next part

[RabidGibbon]

235bc - 230bc - The Bridge over the River Po.

An interesting development occurred early on in this instalment as a German ambassador approached with the offer of my becoming a protectorate. Rather than curse him however I countered with an offer of a ceasefire, which to my surprise the northerners accepted.

Well this was looking better - I began plotting terrible things to do to the Gauls and brought up Tiberius Pleminius with an army that looked very different from the mish mash of auxillia and mercenaries that had lost the North. Having accepted that the creation of all auxillia armies was either stupid, or not viable until the assimilated town’s are producing much better quality troops (I believe this can be done through a combination of barracks and “Occupation level” buildings).

So with this in mind I scraped up every available roman unit, retrained them wherever they could get bonuses and put the lot under Tiberius Pleminius with the intention of storming Mediolanium. However as he advanced north word arrived of a Greek/Gaul alliance. Now I see this union with the Hellenic state being important in the future so I also sent diplomats to the Gauls.

Now that the Greeks had allied with the Gauls I was at peace with them, and they readily agreed to an alliance. As this happened another alliance was struck up with the Macedonians, who had recently gone to war with the Germans. Hopefully this barbarian empire could be crushed in a 3 front war!

So in the Summer of 233bc Quintius Clodius crossed the bridge north of Bononia and marched on Patavium. The Garrison of Patavium was strong, and I was expecting some sort of German response and a pretty tough battle ahead - oh silly naive me.

In the Germans turn a nearly full stack army approached from the west, led by a 6 star general, and behind that came an even larger army, commanded by a unexceptional family member. To stand and fight these armies at the walls of Patavium would be suicide considering the strength of the Garrison that would also take part. I hit on a cunning plan.

I would loop behind the 6 star general (Alraic of Treveroum) and hit Ricburgis of Albis who, although in command of a larger army I judged to be the lesser threat, and then retreat towards the mountains after the battle, hopefully finding somewhere suitably defensible for when Alraic came calling.

The plan went well for less than a second. Barely had we left Patavium and begun the northward leg of the march to intercept Ricburgis than yet another German army came whooping out of the trees.


A 3rd hidden German army threw the Roman offensive into disarray.

Fortunately my army just had time to deploy from the column of march as the Germans raced forward. I deployed all my troops on the left flank, almost, but not quite corner-camping. Once the battle started I rushed my third line (Triarii plus some Gallic and Italian spearmen) to bolster up my right flank and assumed a sort of dog leg formation, which was pretty much all the manuvereing I did all battle, allowing the Germans to break themselves on my line time and time again.


Intense fighting at 2nd Patavium

At the end of the battle I was surprised by my relatively low casualties, If there had only been one German army left I would have pushed on and tried to force a battle. However there were 3 German armies left (including the Patavium garrison) and with the distinct impression that my plan had been insane in the first place, and only the German ambush had made me stop to stack up the odds, I retreated to hold the bridge over the River Po (Well I assume it’s the Po, if not it’s the one north of Bononia).

The Germans, being fierce northern barbarians who fear nothing, came pouring south. Unfortunately for them each General was so taken up with the idea that he would be the one to defeat the Romans last army that they refused to co-operate.

Ricburgis, the lesser of the two generals but commanding a larger force attacked first. He quickly lost control of his army as in their eagerness they all pushed forward to engage the Romans. Roman discipline however was immaculate, and a hail of pila fell upon the advancing axe men. However carried away with some initial success I launched a counter attack too early and began to lose the tight box formation I had created.

However I still had reserves, and about two thirds of the way through the battle noticed a ford across the river, whilst the Germans were still playing “lets try to make the bridge collapse under our weight”. Only after I had crossed the river and hit the Germans in the rear did I remember how resilient armies on bridges can be in terms of morale. My already hard pressed troops now had to kill every last single German as they would not break. Like Hannibal at Cannae (If I may compare incompetence with genius) my forces suffered a heavier casualty rate than normal in exchange for complete annihilation of the enemy.


Hastatii cross a ford German scouts failed to locate

Now Alraic made his move, hoping no doubt to capitalise on my weakened state. He had a lot of cavalry in his army (nearly half, including some tough mercenary Sarmatians) and these attacked in waves. I quickly realised what a disadvantage Alraics superior generalship put me at as a unit of Barbarian cavalry scythed through a mercenary phalanx head on. Alraic himself collapsed my right flank with a devastating charge before my skirmishers (who I didn’t have on fire at will, figuring I could do with a sudden volley of Javelins late in the battle) brought him down whikst he was crashing through my Triarii seeking to reach Tiberius. By the end of the battle victory was mine but my army was in ruins.


The River Po provided a watery grave for many troops on both sides

So, although I’ve gained no ground this instalment the outlook is a lot brighter. I’ve destroyed 3 German armies, and instead of being the intended victim of a powerful alliance I’m part of one seeking to carve up the German empire.

The plan next turn is to drive north (how many times have I said that?) - I’ll be staying out of the Balkan part of the German empire for fear of treading on my Macedonian allies toes.

**********************************************************

Thanks for the kind words all - its always nice to know someones reading.

[Abokasee]

....Are the pics of units from a mod?

[The Wizard]

Yep, it's the Roma mod of the RTR mod.



~Wiz

[Monk]

moved to Throne room after being to lazy to do it for a week...