220 Summer
Did very little, ordered a few more troops. News of Carthage having been destroyed reaches us, more big Armenian armies running in.
220 Winter
I spend a lot of money – mostly on buying some mercs to quickly flesh out my forces for war, but also on new farming projects which in the long run should keep the treasury stable. With new forces on all three fronts, I begin to order some attacks. Aspurgus of Chalcedon goes to take on the foremost Armenian force. We have the numerical advantage, and indeed as we advance the Armenians retreat off the field. Nice easy victory, though sadly with no enemy casualties. The Armenians besiege Sinope with a small force.
219 Summer
My plan is as follows; against the Greeks, beat off the attackers of Halicarnassus, then ship my army plus a spy to Rhodes and try and take that. Though that may not succeed it will at least distract them; if it works well enough, I can move along the coast to try and take Cyprus. In the east, beat off but not pursue the Armenians (who haven’t thrown many big stacks at me thus far) but focus on crippling the Egyptians along the coast.
I attack the Greeks, and they retreat towards the coastline. Pulling some defenders out of Halicarnassus, I follow them. Just one survivor of theirs leaves the field; they are unable to respond to my light cavalry and skirmishers and are scythed down by arrows. I then move my fleet down, first dispatching a spy into Rhodes, then landing my army. Success! The spy has opened the gates. The greek army is larger and more powerful than my own, but it’s outside the walls. If I can capture the plaza quickly, I should be able to win the battle and then they’ll be the ones having to assault significant walls covered in archers.
The battle does not go according to plan. I’m not used to playing on large unit sizes, and my army quickly gets very unwieldy in the city streets. The enemy rush to try and pin me in the middle of their field army and their defenders; however, their general over-reaches himself and is cut down by my lone pike unit. My own general manages to trounce one of the defending hoplite units, and soon both enemy leaders are down. My men are still milling around though, the plaza has not fallen, and the enemy hoplites are lining up outside… defeat becomes inevitable as I get crushed between two walls of armoured hoplites. I run my general out of a side-gate, use a unit on the walls to capture as many towers as I can to do a few more shooting casualties, and that’s pretty much all I can do. My general destroys their ballistae which is a nice plus though.
As for the Eastern front… I leave Sinope for the moment, and beat another Armenian force back into the mountains. The Egyptians assault Antioch! Noes! They have umpteen siege engines so I decide not to fight them on the walls; I’ll just plug choke points around the central plaza with my pikes. I sneak my heavy cavalry around the side, and hit their general in a side street, mown down by my pontic heavy cavalry and their javelins. Plugging heavy cavalry into the back with their army trapped against my pikes at the front, the enemy lines dissolve, and huge numbers are cut down as they attempt to flee. Heroic victory! Only forty-five of the enemy army of two and a half thousand escape, their losses including many elite archers. A second Egyptian army quickly follows, however, and Antioch is under siege again.
219 Winter
I could relieve Antioch again; however, I have a different plan. I march my relief army down the coast to attack Sidon. I have mercenary elephants, so I can move directly to assault it; this should deprive the Egyptians of another major city without many losses on my part. We lose eighty or so men, but capture the city with ease. I enslave the populace. Sidon is well equipped, giving me facilities to train Bronze Shields, Onagers, and Chariots. My anti-Armenian army moves south towards the Egyptian front, finding another Armenian force in the mountains. The battle here goes badly wrong, however; my general is killed by elite cataphract archers and only the enemy deciding to withdraw prevents an embarrassing defeat. The army nevertheless limps south towards Tarsus. A pirate fleet defeats a ship of ours at sea.
218 Summer
In another gambit on the Egyptian front, I move the cavalry arm of the force that captured Sidon over to Damascus to try and take it in a second fast strike. The elephants easily punch through the walls, and only eleven casualties later the small garrison is overrun. The Egyptian capital is at Jerusalem, just one province to the south; my forces are stretched thinly, however, so I need to be careful. The Armenians assault Sinope, but the wall ballistae destroy their gate ram and their peltasts fail to defeat my Hillmen on the walls; their powerful cavalry never get a look in. A plague begins in Pergamum.
218 Winter
I move my best forces back from Damascus to Sidon, re-consolidating my army and leaving Damascus with only Arab cavalry for a garrison. I defeat a Greek navy; scouting the mainland, the Greeks appear to be pretty much kicking ass, Athens and Sparta are under their control with big garrisons. I’ve also overtaken the Egyptians for territory, now; Armenia and Egypt still both have more powerful militaries than me though. Egypt assaults Antioch again, and it definitely doesn’t look good. I figure that as long as they pay heavily in manpower, my gains of Sidon and Damascus will have been worth it, though. Given there is already a breach in my walls, I figure they will go for that rather than using their siege weapons, so I plug it with my pikemen. The strategy works – just. I manage to defeat one block of pikes and archers, but they then run their rams and towers up to the walls, overwhelming my Hillmen. Inside the walls, I then have to fight pikes on pikes and just about manage to pull my cavalry round to rear charge them. Both armies are pretty much destroyed, but I’ve won the day (and I had a thousand less men to begin with!). Sidon is besieged by a new Egyptian force, but Antioch finally gets a breathing space. One of my generals is assassinated, and Pergamum still has the plague.
217 Summer
Relief forces arrive at Antioch and I order repairs to the walls. I build up forces in Halicarnassus, considering attacking Rhodes again or possibly capturing the less well defended isle of Crete.
217 Winter
The siege of Sidon continues, I load troops up ready for an attack on Crete. I send a fleet towards Cyprus, but have too few movement points to land – a fatal error with the Egyptian navy nearby. Fortunately, the fleet escapes.
216 Summer
I land men on Crete and Cyprus, both only have small garrisons. I raise a small merc force and crush some rebels in mid-Anatolia. Damascus comes under siege by a large new Egyptian force.
216 Winter
I start the siege of Kydonia. I decide I need to be more mobile against Egypt, so try breaking out of Sidon. It proves a bad choice; I win, but only at the expense of my elephants and hundreds of pikemen. Fortunately, despite having had to order my mahouts to kill their mounts, new elephants are found and I still have twenty or so of the beasts. My treasury is strong, too, so I can afford to retrain all my battered pike units. I attack Salamis in the hope of taking it before Egyptian reinforcements arrive. Two units of Nubians are in the garrison. A hundred or so losses, mostly hillment, and my pikemen have taken the city. Another province is ours! I send some more men towards Sinope, as the Armenians have a force in the area again.
215 Summer
Oh god, the Armenians. Are everywhere. A fort I built near Sinope is under siege (it was just there to slow them down), there’s a full stack heading for Mazaka and another one heading for Antioch. I move some forces out of Mazaka into a field army and leave it blocking the bridge just to the south; other than that, I pretty much decide to sit tight.
215 Winter
Antioch is under siege. Again. Other than that, no major movements. I build some onagers in Sidon, in case I get a chance to strike at Jerusalem; I think doing so would weaken the Egyptian war machine a lot, though with Armenia coming at me I don’t want to over-reach myself. My fort is easily stomped; now for the bridge battle. Their cataphract archers do a lot of damage softening my men up; my chariot archers are annoyingly ineffective by comparison. However, my one pike unit and eastern inf do the job and slow the Armenian heavy cavalry to a halt. A countercharge by my general kills their leader, and panic begins to spread among the enemy infantry. The enemy army dissolves and is run down by my heavy cavalry; a number more infantry are pushed off the bridge as the cavalry charge across, but their sacrifice ensures the utter destruction of the huge Armenian army. From two and a half thousand down to just sixteen men, for only about five hundred casualties and most of those mercernary light infantry; all in all a good battle. Sinope comes under siege again.
214 Summer
A tiny greek force lands near Halicarnassus; I destroy it and the navy it came from. I decide I can afford to bribe the army besieging Damascus; 17400 denarii is a lot, but it gives me a breathing space and that’s what I most need. I move my army out of Sidon; next stop, Jerusalem. I move my victorious army from the Mazaka Bridge north towards Sinope, and retake the fort there. Damascus is swiftly put under siege again; Kydonia’s garrison sallies out to attack us, and though their armoured hoplites take a lot of my lighter infantry with them they are defeated.
214 Winter
Now for the difficult part of my gamble against Egypt; taking Jerusalem. I’ve got Onagers and Elephants, which should get me through the gates, but the walls are pretty big and there’s a decent defensive force. I attack the side-gate not the main gate, as the main gate is set back into a wall with towers that can shoot me from both sides as I advance. Unfortunately, I put my onagers too close; they, then the elephants,are shot to pieces. My forces withdraw. The Egyptian army moves out of the city and counter-attacks me in the countryside. The battle is a victory; the commander of Jerusalem’s garrison and many of his best troops lie slain. My middle eastern problems are hardly over though; Antioch is under attack again, huge Armenian infantry forces massing outside its walls. Fortunately, huge is pretty much all they are; poorly trained easterners who are cut down by my professional phalanxes. A hairy moment comes when I find out they had a sap point I didn’t notice, but a charge from my general swiftly routs the forces they put into the new gap. We then head over to Sinope, where it’s the same drill again; lots of Armenians, big walls, you get the picture. The enemy does well to begin with, hurting my troops a lot on the walls and doing damage with their deadly archers. In the end it becomes pikes versus light infantry and cavalry archers again though; I trap their forces in a desperate crush at the gatehouse, killing huge numbers of them.
213 Summer
The Mazaka Bridge army moves back to their eponymous battlefield as an Armenian army is noticed nearby; I order retraining in Sinope and Antioch. The big decision is whether to go for Jerusalem again, despite my lack of siege weaponry, or whether to beat the Egyptians away from Damascus and Sidon. I decide to take a risk and go for Jerusalem again; my army’s still large and veteran, and taking Jerusalem would be worth losing Damascus for (Sidon’s still quite well defended). I build up my Aegean fleet a bit more. A fresh army attacks my siege lines at Jerusalem; this could be a tough fight, added together with the city’s defenders the armies are very even. They make the fatal mistake of advancing without joining forces though; the two armies separately are easily beaten, and Jerusalem’s defence force and its commander mostly cut to pieces (sadly the enemy commander from outside Jerusalem escaped, but few of his men could say the same). Jerusalem is ours! I enslave the populace, as the safest and most humane way of stamping Pontic authority on the region. As for the Armenians, their faction leader comes to attack us – Mazaka Bridge, round two. Grudge match style. Their leader has a whopping ninety-two bodyguards, and proves I’m right to be afraid by running in and whooping my pikemen along with his infantry. My leader is cut down! My men flee! Fortunately, I have my chariot archers ready to fight a rearguard action. Out on the plain, the battered Armenian infantry are hit by the chariots and many of their units rout, with their general – and faction leader - being cut down in the confusion. At least the sacrifice of Sauromates was worthwhile. My chariots flee from the cataphract archers; with a thousand men from either side dead, the second battle of Mazaka bridge is lost in a confused bloodbath. The fort near Sinope comes under siege from a small force.
213 Winter
I lower taxes in Jerusalem, though public order there is still dangerously low. I decide to take care of a small Armenian raiding force near Antioch, only to find there are over a hundred cataphract archers in it. I manage to catch them in combat with my general, though, and once they are gone the infantry are quickly mauled. I leave Sidon under siege for now, and begin moving my fleet to recall some troops from Crete, which probably doesn’t need a large garrison given its size. A huge greek army lands near Halicarnassus. Eep!
212 Summer
A Thracian army is on Rhodes; given Thrace is neigher allied to nor an enemy of the Greeks this seems odd. I reinforce Halicarnassus with mercenaries and begin rushing men back from Crete. A small to medium sized Armenian army is running toward the centre of Anatolia, worryingly, but I can’t do much beyond strengthen my defences for now. I hire mercenaries and send them to defend Ancyra; I figure I can keep moving them east to real battle lines if they’re not needed there. I move a force from Antioch to relieve Sidon and make sure I’m ready for future Egyptian attacks. The small Egyptian besieging force, though elite, is soon running for the hills. My captain, Herakles, is seen as the man of the hour, and is ennobled for his bravery in the fighting! For the first time in many, many turns, I have no sieges going on against my cities. My fort near Sinope gets stomped (again), but instead of besieging Sinope the army also moves inland. Odd…
212 Winter
My cities around the Phoenecian coast are secure; there are two small Armenian forces in the interior of Anatolia, but I’ve got a garrison in Ancyra to respond to them now. I decide not to try challenging the greek army at Halicarnassus in the open field; it’s simply too large and has too many armoured hoplites. I sit an army in southern Rhodes as a distraction. Sure enough, the Greeks attack; unfortunately not with troops from the mainland, as it turns out there are plenty on Rhodes. My army is cut to pieces by vast, vast numbers of hoplites. Fricken’ greeks. Fortunately they mostly escape to the ships.
211 Summer
Things in Anatolia are slipping, and my troops are mostly sitting in Phoenecia. Throwing my financial reserves into financing mercenary armies, I move towards the Armenian and Greek forces, both now moving into the interior instead of attacking the coastal cities. The Armenians then move towards me, and the battle begins. With two generals and many cataphract archers, they have the more elite army; mine is larger and perhaps fresher, however, though mostly made up of mercenaries. Their generals – their main strength – over-reach themselves and crash into the core of my battle line, both being hacked down by Thracian mercenaries. The battle is won soon afterwards as their infantry, dismayed, begin to flee. The Greek stack moves inland, perhaps aiming for Pergamum.
211 Winter
Right, my last turn then. I think things in Anatolia are more stable now, my stack that defeated the Armenians is heading for the big Greek army. I finally send a full sized army from Halicarnassus to besiege Rhodes; hopefully this time I’ll get rid of it as a Greek landing point. I make no new moves against Armenia or Egypt; I’m happy to bide my time for now, I’m getting more revenue than they are so time is on my side in this war. As I hit end turn, the Egyptians are attacking Damascus again, and the Rhodian greeks attack my besieging army. I decide to have a go at fighting it out, not very hopefully as their forces are incredibly elite but if I win it would solve a lot of problems. Sadly, my forces get the expected mauling, including two dead generals. A bitter day... but at least it hasn’t lost me that much, and I get a new adoption at the start of the next turn.
SO… the final state of the realm. Over 40,000 denarii in the bank, which is good. Our main gain has been the capture of Sidon, Damascus, and Jerusalem, with Salamis as a nice extra; Crete has been another strategic gain, though Rhodes with its huge garrison of armoured hoplites keeps eluding our grasp. Fighting offensively against Armenia will be difficult; their horse archers make them difficult to fight in the open with our pikemen, so capturing towns is vital. If more elephants or onagers can be brought to bear to capture towns quickly this would be an excellent way to pursue such a war. Against the Greeks, we need more archers and heavy cavalry ideally, not to mention pikes. Our basic spear infantry are next to useless against their hoplites; ideally missile and heavy cavalry would be able to outrun them and hit in a focussed manner, but pontic light cavalry run out of javelins too fast. Failing that, pike and archer lines will wear them down. Against Egypt we have the upper hand quite clearly; pressing on to the huge cities of Alexandria and Thebes will be of more value than trying to struggle into the desert where their chariots can operate effectively and the settlements are too small to give us much recompense for our losses. Of the three, I’d say the Greeks are the largest immediate threat; however, looking at the faction rankings they don’t have many provinces left, which indicates that a few defeats could cripple them if this can be achieved. Remember that the fleet near Rhodes still has some battered troops sitting in it. And good luck to the next commander!