Terror from the Desert:A Sab'yn AAR

[EasternScourge]

First off,house rules:
1.All armies have a family member as general
2.Settlement have to have a family member as governor UNLESS emergency calls for it.
3.No very high taxes except in desperate times.
4.Always occupy a city unless
A.It had rebelled (exterminate)
B.Capital of enemy Faction (enslave or exterminate)
C.Have no chance in heaven in controlling it due to population (enlsave)

Now,the actual AAR:
Introduction
Europe in the spring of 272 B.C. The world stands at a crossroad of destiny. In the east, the succesors of Alexander squabble and fight amongst each other, while nomads reign in the steppes. In the west, Rome is beginning to spread its imperial wings,bringing it into contact with the ancient empire of Carthage and the barbarians of the Gaulish and Germanic regions. Unknown to most, a small kingdom located on the southern edge of Arabia , the Sab'yn kingdom, is beginning its own rise into fame, and eventually,an empire.

Chapter 1:The First Year(272 B.C.)

The rise to power began during the reign of Yazil II Watar. He was middle-aged, in his 40s to be more accurate. His sole heir to the throne was his son, Halik II Watar. Halik was an ambitious man, and attempted to convince his father to allow him to lead an attack on the city of Carna, which was ruled by the rogue man known as II Sharih. Yazil consented, and all the forces that could be mustered were sent.

Other pressing matters,such as the economic situation, were then attended too. Roads were to begin being built, and a diplomat was sent to begin the long journey north, to the rich kingdom of the Ptolemaioi.

Several months later, a young,promising man known as Sharhib Alan Yanuf joined the family.He was a welcome addition,showing promise in his future.



Nothing else happened for several months, but in the fall the kingdom went bankrupt,and even worse,slid into debt.The pressong economic needs forced the siege of Carna to turn into battle.It was an epic battle,and II Sharih was killed.The citizens were treated as equals,and no man was slaughtered.

[Wolfman]

Dost my eyes decieve me? Finally A sab'yn AAR I thought I would never see the day. Good Luck with this I am liking it all ready.

[EasternScourge]

Dost my eyes decieve me? Finally A sab'yn AAR I thought I would never see the day. Good Luck with this I am liking it all ready.

Thanks.I just love the Sabeans.I don't know why though.Then again,one does get tired of Baktria,Romania,and just about everything else.And luckily,I got a chapter two (each chapter is going to be a year,unless its just really boring and nothing happens for several years.)

Chapter Two:Reversal of Luck

The next year began on a high and low point. The city of Carta had been captured,but the economy was still in a rut.So once again,the army was packed up,and headed for the un-walled town of Sabata.Since Hazil was in charge of the army,the new son Sharib was sent to govern Carna in Hazil's absence.

In the summer things seemed to be looking up.The diplomat had finally arrived in Egypt,and trade rights were easily achieved.The next stop was Arche Selukia,the other superpower of the east,and our potential northern annoyance.Early dealings could be of some help in the future.

While the summer seemed full of promise,the fall was filled with sorrow. Hazil lead tha army against Lahay'ath,ruler of Sabata. The battle was a deadlock, until the faithful moment of Halik's death.The young man,filled with such potential,the future of our kingdom, brought down by a rebel fool.



While it seemed all hope was lost,the men continued to fight bravely,and even payed the debt back.



The battle continued to rage,eventually reaching the center of the town itself.The men ran,and then charged,ran and then charged,but evntually they ran,and no charge came. The battle had been lost,the heir dead,and the army broken into a fraction of what it had been before. The only good news was that our coffers were beginning to fill up with money,but was it worth the price?



Heres some pictures from the battle.And if someone could tell me ow to get minimum UI,please tell me.And sadly,the shots aren't that good.Stupid unit information got in the way.

[deadmeat36]

Might I recommend getting rid of the green arrows

But good AAR

[EasternScourge]

I will,once I find out how.Any help with that.Want to get things to look right to get some good screenshots.Also,I want to go ahead and let you all know that Chapter 3 is most likely going to cover several years.I got to get money,rebuild an army,capture Sarbata, and get my revenge. Sarbata,my Sab'yn Alamo.(Random thought of the day)

[Mordecai]

In your preferences.txt file found in your EB/preferences folder. Change MINIMAL_UI:FALSE to TRUE
for the green arrows change DISABLE_ARROW_MARKERS:FALSE to TRUE

EDIT: Spelling Mistake

[Deaghaidh]

Why don't the casualties add up? They had 1000, you killed 900, and they have 500 left?

Anyway, a rough start.

[Ower]

Well the "kills" are in fact injuries, that take te men out of battle, but some can be healed, it hapens when you win a battle.

[The Errant]

Good AAR. The Sabyn are my favorite faction too. It's nice to see a Sabyn AAR. Btw. Did you fix the construction issues in your build?

[EasternScourge]

The what?I'm sorry,but I really don't know what your talking about (I just rejoined the other day.).If whatever your talking about is fixed in.81a,I believe I have that version.How would I check that?

[EasternScourge]

Chapter 3-A Comeback in Fortune

After the loss of the Battle of Sabata and the death of the heir,the army returned to lick its wounds. In the spring of 270, trade rights were secured with the Selucids, the largest known empire in the east,and possibly the world. While this news was great,the news continued to be good. Our coffers were finally flowing with money,Carna was pacified,and the army was retrained,and after several months, made larger with fresh recruits.Led by Yazil II Watar, they headed to Sabata,and began the siege in the following spring.As the siege continued,several sons were born, 'Abhamad and II Ez II Watar. Carna was finally made into a Client of the King.

The fall of 269 was a great one indeed.Sabata, the location of our only lost and the deathplace of Hartik II, was captured.The battle was quite easy.Our last battle with the rebels had severly weakened them,and with our forces increased and high in skirmishers,there armies were destroyed before they even touched us.They didn't even have the nerve to let our men capture the town,surrendering before we reached it.





The city's occupants were left alone,as we did not believe in killing innocents just because of the actions of the army. In celebration of this moment, a shrine to Athtar was to be built in the capital of Mryab,were our king returned after the battle. The following months were signs of continued prosperity.Money flowed,roads built,Sabata pacified, and on the day the Temple was built,takes were lowered in celebration for 1 season. Soon after tha, Sabata was made a Client of the King,and in Carna a new recruitment center was built,so as to speed up and increase our military might.While three cities were ours,more laid ahead.But, the Selucids may pose a threat,as reports have shown that they captured a city north of Carna.How will this affect our policy is yet to be seen.But we shall be keeping a close eye on these men.

The World in 668 B.C.

[CaesarAugustus]

Nice to see a Saba AAR. I haven't played the faction myself due to all the things I read on this forum about them being incomplete...

[The Errant]

The what?I'm sorry,but I really don't know what your talking about (I just rejoined the other day.).If whatever your talking about is fixed in.81a,I believe I have that version.How would I check that?

This is a known bug in 0.81a. Notice the lack of sanitation buildings that reduce squalor?

The team forgot to put sewers among the improvements the Sabaeans and Hayasdan can build. And since sewers are a perquisite to the healer improvement, which they both have but cannot build, without first completing sewers.

In addition the team forgot to add "desert irrigation" to the Sabaean tech tree. Which is stupid since if any civilization of that time period were adept desert farmers, it was the builders of the great Marib damm.

All I know is for sure is that the Sabaeans lack the following buildings: Sewers, Healer, Desert Irrigation. It's also possible they are missing the other sanitation buildings (baths and aqeduct) although I won't vouch for those two. You will have to ask a teammember about those.

Also the highest level of factional MIC does not produce any unit that the second highest factional MIC dosen't produce. In 0.80 it still produced trainable King's Elites. Although the Sabaean unit roster remains incomplete so they might have planned for some new units which aren't in the game yet.

Fortunately these are not any major obstacles. All you have to do is some constructive editing of export_descr_buildings.txt in your EB/Data folder to get them in. Open the file and scroll down until you reach the entries conserning said buildings and just add saba, where the ownership of buildings is listed. Remember to add the comma and space after the faction name to make it work properly. Don't worry it's savegame compatible.

Also it's a know fact that the Sabata tradeport is bugged. So don't bother building any port-upgrades including the coastal clearing since the port will never generate any profit whatsoever. People have tried to fix this bug before without results so it's up to the team to make it work.

[EasternScourge]

Thats all?Well,what a relief.I was afraid it was some kind of glitch that caused a CTD.As for that port thing,oh well.Guess no trade from there *looks at the three other cities that could be used*.

[The Errant]

Since it's not a very profitable province per se. I tend to use Sabata as my primary recruitment center. Construct a high level temple of Athar for the morale bonuses and upgrade the MIC for a decent recruitment center once the population goes up.

[Deaghaidh]

I was inspired to play a saba campaign last night. Kept me up till 3:00 am.

I managed to get Petra to revolt away from the ptolemies. As it happened, my main army (a rather modest affair) had just conquered that town for the central desert province. So off they marched to reinforce the horde of slingers, skirmishers and light cav in Petra. They had to cross my ally Seleucids territory, but I figured they'd never notice me marching through the empty desert, and I would be helping them out anyways right?

Well, they got mad, and attacked me. So now I was at war with two successor states, and what was worse, my economy cratered. I was now at war with my two trading partners.

I was playing on easy/easy, so I was able to survive, and even nabb Jerusalem, bostra, and have Palmyra revolt and join me. I eventually lost Petra, but not before all those slingers devestated the first several small armies set at them. Arab slingers FTW!

Anyways, that's my mini-AAR :D

One thing I noticed though, is that Saba is strangely lacking in ships or the capability to build ships. This means that to get anywhere takes forever, and to get to Ethiopia (where you have Homeland IIRC) you have to march through the entirety of the Ptolemaic Empire. It seems to me that this faction ought to start with a couple of ships, or at least have one of the nearbye Elutheroi towns start with the capability of building basic ones.

[The Errant]

I was inspired to play a saba campaign last night. Kept me up till 3:00 am.

I managed to get Petra to revolt away from the ptolemies. As it happened, my main army (a rather modest affair) had just conquered that town for the central desert province. So off they marched to reinforce the horde of slingers, skirmishers and light cav in Petra. They had to cross my ally Seleucids territory, but I figured they'd never notice me marching through the empty desert, and I would be helping them out anyways right?

Well, they got mad, and attacked me. So now I was at war with two successor states, and what was worse, my economy cratered. I was now at war with my two trading partners.

I was playing on easy/easy, so I was able to survive, and even nabb Jerusalem, bostra, and have Palmyra revolt and join me. I eventually lost Petra, but not before all those slingers devestated the first several small armies set at them. Arab slingers FTW!

Anyways, that's my mini-AAR :D

One thing I noticed though, is that Saba is strangely lacking in ships or the capability to build ships. This means that to get anywhere takes forever, and to get to Ethiopia (where you have Homeland IIRC) you have to march through the entirety of the Ptolemaic Empire. It seems to me that this faction ought to start with a couple of ships, or at least have one of the nearbye Elutheroi towns start with the capability of building basic ones.

Tamane. The settlement directly south of your starting city can build a naval bay. Takes four turns or so to complete. And an additional two for the ship. Just be careful of the huge pirate fleets in the Red Sea. Otherwise you african expedition might become very short.

If you have any other questions about the Sabaeans I'll just refer you to this shameless piece of self promotion: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79417

[Deaghaidh]

Really? Huh, I missed that.

Anyways, yay for Saba AAR, please continue. :D

[EasternScourge]

Chapter 4-(I can't think of a name)

After the capture of Sabata, the next few years were a time of peace. Instead of war,construction was the main focus.Sewers were built n Maryab,graineries were built in carna,roads in Sabata, and caravan scout parties built everywhere else.But as restless men do, Sharib began to get bored with such trivial tasks.So he was puit in charge of an army,that once again put us into bankruptcy.He headed to the city of Tamare,ruled by the rebel Karib.The battle was to be interesting,as Karib was rumored to have had Ethiopians serving him.But no matter. The men of Sab'yn were nopt afraid. The battle was difficult,but was won in the end.Another city was ruled by us,and the coast of southwestern Arabia was ours.Now,we head east.

Heres some pictures.Really boring years.

[EasternScourge]

Sorry for the lack of an update.Between a debate,state required tests,and a math test,I just haven't felt like doing much.But don't worry,I'll make up for it with a good Chapter 5,and some updates over the weeken.Though I do have one question.Where do you think I should go

East-Rebel owned,but some lands there are usually eyed by Selukia
West-Capture some African lands and get those Ethiopians.I'll need ships though.And theres Egypt
North-Capture Desert and Possible Conflict with Selukia.Not a fun choice

Also,is a save from .81 compatabile with .81a (finally realized I didn't have patch,and so got it earlier.Yay zip files).

[The Errant]

Sorry for the lack of an update.Between a debate,state required tests,and a math test,I just haven't felt like doing much.But don't worry,I'll make up for it with a good Chapter 5,and some updates over the weeken.Though I do have one question.Where do you think I should go

East-Rebel owned,but some lands there are usually eyed by Selukia
West-Capture some African lands and get those Ethiopians.I'll need ships though.And theres Egypt
North-Capture Desert and Possible Conflict with Selukia.Not a fun choice

Also,is a save from .81 compatabile with .81a (finally realized I didn't have patch,and so got it earlier.Yay zip files).

Go west to Africa. Grab Axum and Meroe. The african regionals are fun. Plus you get access to elephants. Also if you end up at war with the Ptolies, grab some of their cities and start churning out some Galatian Kleruchoi. They are some of the best widely available heavy infantry in the game.
Plus Axum and Meroe can both build gold mines so they are very profitable in the long run. Far more fun than taking over the desert.
Don't worry about the Seleukids. Do to the irrational hatred of the AI has towards the human player the Seleukids will come to you. You have no reason to go to them. The closer you are to their major recruitment centers the faster they will churn out new troops to make your life miserable. Believe me. I know from experience.

[EasternScourge]

Chapter 5- Midlife Crisis

After the capture of Tamare, the kingdom of the Sab'yn remained at peace,focusing on improving its cities,collecting wealth in its coffers. However, Yazill Ill Watar,the leader, was growing old. He had watched his lands grow,but yet he had no hand in it.It was young men that went and captured the cities,while he sat on his butt in the capital.Eventually tiring of this,he planned an expedition to the lands of Africa,rumored to have much wealth and men. In the year 261 B.C., plans were made,an an army and fleet began to be built. The following year, taxes had to be raised to support the expedition,and a fleet was built to ferry his men. Finally, in 259 B.C., he and the army headed to Africa. The cool ocean breeze, and the feeling of adventure made him feel young again.He couldn't wait to face the enemy in battle.They landed in Africa, and after waiting for the summer suns to be gone,headed to Axum.In 258 B.C., they reached the city,which was dissapointing in its granduer. But still,they sieged it.It lasted months,but the men grew tired. An assualt was launched on the city,ruled by Nawfim. The battle was unusual in many ways.It was us,not the enemy, that attacked first. Second,the man had several units of Ethiopians, once that was filled with men wielding hammers. But the most frightening of all, was this.



However,they fell faster than expected,and in the end the city fell to the might of the Sab'yns.The king felt rejuvenated,but his African Expedition was halted by news that the Egyptians owned the lands to the north.

Images from the Battle:


The chaos of battle.


Like I said,the elephants were pushovers


Heres what the battle odds were at the beginning

[Wolfman]

Weird! Giodilics in Ethiopia. Why Aren't the Ethiopian Agema in the settlment? NIce Update by the way!

[EasternScourge]

Giodilics?What are those? Are those the guys with the hammers?And thanks.Hopefully my faction leader's midlife crisis ends.I only got three options,none particulary pleasant

A)War with Egypt
B)War with the Selucids (aka Silver Death)
C)Head east and fight settlements with stone walls and almost full stacks (or least that was what they were in a different campiagn).

At the rate of the moment,you might see another ruler soon.Please let my leaders other son grow up in time to take over.Need to keep the crown in the family.I got so many people adopted, and one is the heir.At least I don't have to worry so much about the lack of governors.Heck,I had two more adopted during the time of the African Expedition,which has already hit some issues.Stupid rebel fleet.

[Wolfman]

Same problem I have playing the Sabyn. I reacted in shock because those guys are supposed to be in modern day Ireland.

[Basileus Seleukeia]

It's a skin issue. Aithiopikon Agemata and Ordmnaghta (sp?) share the same skin.

[The Errant]

Weird! Giodilics in Ethiopia. Why Aren't the Ethiopian Agema in the settlment? NIce Update by the way!

There are a couple of model sharing issues with the current EB build. First the Sabaean Noble Infantry or Lo'hamim Azzilim share their model with that of the Goidilic Daisbard. Since the slave faction is specified with the Goidilic textures all heavy infantry of this type in service of the Eeutheroi will look like Goidilic Daisbard.
The Aithiopian Agema or Ethiopian Guard (big black dudes with battleaxes) have the same problem of sharing their model with the Godilic Ordmhornaghta (big painted white dudes with warhammers).

There are two ways around this. Both require editing of the model_battle.txt file in the EB\Data folder. The first way is to edit the model for the Daisbard/Lo'hamim Azzilim and give the slave faction the same textures as the merc faction. Simply copy paste the texture line from one to the other should work like charm. Same thing with the model for the Ethiopian Guard/Goidilic Ordmhornaghta should fix that issue.

The other way of doing it, is more complicated and requires you to make new models for both units. And altering the EDU file.

[EasternScourge]

Or the third option:Ignore it, fight them, and kill them all.I prefer that option because I really don't want to go and edit files that could lead to evil CTDs.Truth,adding the Sab'yns to list of who gets healers and desert irrigation was enough to scare me.Changing around textures,thats a little to much for me.Oh well.I could always believe they were a bunch of drunk soldiers that got amazingly swept away to Africa.

[EasternScourge]

Chapter 6- Fortunes Reversed
After the capture of Axum,the lands settled down. In the fall of 258 B.C., our nation joined into an alliance with the Seluciuds to the north.After several more month, we adopted a promising young man named 'Abhama into the family.He was sent to Axum to take control of the city. Yazill Ill Watar, our glorius leader, was planning a major confrontation with the desert kindgom of Egypt. Their land was unguarded and ripe for the taking.And with Selucid support,it would be crushed.However, pirates sunk the fleet, and with it 'Abhamad. It was sad indeed,but the plans continued.Our armies moved into place in the year 254 B.C., but a great catastrophe struck. Our leader died,and his true son inherited the power.

To add insult to injury,the Seluciuds decided to betray us,and sieged the city of Carna.It was valiantly defended,but was captured in the end.With the majoirty of the army in Africa,and rebel pirates causing great difficulties in our naval travel,the future of the Sab'yn kingdom is in doubt.But know that if we are to go down,we go down fighting.

Heres Some Pics from the Battle of Carna:











Note:Considering the circumstances,this AAR might not be around for long.Hopefully that army can reach home in time to save the homeland from the Seluciud threat.But those stupid rebels make it all so hard.To put it simple,if the Sab'yn homeland goes down,its all over with.But maybe things will turn around.But just in case,any suggestions for a new faction?A few notes about that: No Nomads.I am really bad at using cavalry based armies.Trust me, me using nomads would be boring.I remember a Parthian campaign where after about 10-20 years,I had conquered nothing.I'm thinking Sweboz,but any suggestions would be welcomed.

[Wolfman]

You din't give the seleucids map information did you? That usually speeds up their attack even more. As for factions I would choose the Casse since they are Isolated from the mainland and have time to grow and you are allied with them. But there is a catch since the eleuthoroi on this Island are pretty strong. Romani Second because of their military reforms and interesting traits systems. Carthage beecause it has a diverse military and is rich.