The Kingdom of Macedonia - A Persian Invasion AAR

[Son of the King]

So, Persian Invasion is finally released, and I thought I would make an AAR of my first campaign on it!

I looked at the factions in custom battles, and decided to play a Greek Hegemony campaign as Athens. I conquered a city, then ended my first turn. The a stroke of ridiculous bad luck as my faction leader died causing game over to occur. His son comes of age on turn 2 or 3...

I decided to try again, but this time with...

Alexander woke up from his dream. He had been dreaming of a time when Greece had been known to rule the world. A time when even the great Persian Empire was no more, and the people living in its bounds were heavily influenced by the Greek culture he knew. He had dreamt that the Greeks had ruled the world, rather than being a collection of city states fighting amongst themselves.

Alexander thought this was a good dream. Indeed, his opinion of it was made even better when the man's voice had proclaimed that the fallen empire was all the work of 'Alexander'. Whether this dream was a vision of his own future, a vision of the future of a descendant of his, or even just a simple dream he did not know. All he knew was what he wanted; to be this 'Alexander' spoken of in his dream, and lead all of the known world under the banner of the Kingdom of Macedonia!

Alexander's Kingdom

He ordered the creation of road infrastructure across his kingdom, as well as commissioning the building of places for the Macedonian Levies who defend the kingdom's borders from the Greek city states in the south and the barbaric tribesmen to the north to be trained more effectively. If one wishes to conquer the world, these things are a simple necessity.



Over a year had passed, and still Alexander's kingdom had not grown. He had become restless and hungry to begin his expansion some months earlier, and had sent his adopted heir Nearchos with a company of Royal Guards and a number of Levies to take the rebellious city state of Olynthus in the name of Macedonia. They had finally prepared to launch an assault by the winter...

Olynthus' days are numbered

I surveyed the scene outside the town. My first thought was that "city state" was too good a name for these backward rebels. Their so called city was little larger that some Macedonian villages I have seen, at least from the outside. I met with my commanders, and we decided on a frontal assault, seeing as how the town was defended by only a single troop of Hoplites. Arrogant rebels!

The rams we needed to break through their walls were soon constructed, and I sounded the order through the camp at dawn to prepare for a battle. Only a few hours later, the lines were assembled outside the town walls with our rams ready to move into position. I shouted some meaningless words of encouragement to the men and sounded the advance.

Rams advance towards the town

The rams seemed to take an eternity to break through, but when the walls were breached we met no resistance. I realised this must mean the garrison was protecting the centre of the town, having decided it impractical to defend their walls. Perhaps they are less arrogant than I imagined.

The walls are breached

Once again I sounded the advance and my men marched through the newly made openings and into the town. I ordered my most experienced troops, the Royal Guards, to lead the offensive and to head straight to the city, backed up by three of my units of Levies. One unit of Levies was kept back, in case the hoplites fought well enough to require a more refined manouver.

The advance begins

The Royal Guards had not long since engaged the hoplites when word reached me that these rebels are indeed stronger than anticipated! My Royal Guards were being crushed, the hoplites pinning them against walls with their long spears. I ordered the reserve Levies to join the fight, and lead my bodyguards into the city and around to the rear entrance to the town centre.

Guards are being crushed.	Levies reinforce.

Before the tide of the battle can be turned however the remaining Royal Guards decide that they have had enough, and turn to run from the battle. I would normally detest this kind of behaviour, but accept that a tactical error on my part caused them to lose far more men than they should. The hoplites began to push into the ranks of my weaker Levies, carving a path into their ranks.

Guards flee	Levies are cut down

As I turned the final corner to enter the town plaza, the sound of hooves behind the hoplites must have broken their resolve, as those left cast their spears on the ground and begged for mercy. Impressed by their bravery and fighting ability I give them their lives. The town however, is now under the rule of King Alexander I of Macedonia!

The town is ours!

Almost two years after the Siege of Olynthus, the town had grown to a respectable size and had been fully integrated into the kingdom. This was a period of calm as troops were replenished and buildings were improved. However, worrying news reached Alexander in early summer of the year 487BC. A messenger arrived from the city of Styberra, bringing news of a moderately sized Illyrian force near the region's north border. They were seemingly preparing to enter Macedonian lands.

The King ordered a deterrant to be placed in the city of Styberra in the form of a number of Macedonian Levies being moved from their various posts to garrison the city. Sure enough, upon hearing news of this the Illyrian army disappeared back into their own territory and once again Alexander began to dream of conquest...

[comrade_general]

Most excellent SotK! A huge grin quickly formed on my face when I read that first paragraph, and it stayed there all through the rest. I really like the pictures too.

But it seems you made a classic Persian blunder and underestimated the power of hoplites.

Looking forward to more!

[Son of the King]

The one about Athens or the one about Greeks ruling the world? :p

I'm glad you enjoyed it. There will be plenty more over the weekend

[comrade_general]

The part about Alexander's dream.

Huzzah for the weekend!

[Son of the King]

Nearchos left his tent and looked down the hill towards the town of Dodona. His army would reach it in a matter of days, and he expected little resistance to its capture. He shouted to Doros, a member of his guard, to begin the march for the day. Alexander would be pleased they had made such good time.

Alexander worried. He was 40, and his dream was no nearer to becoming the truth. He hadn't heard from Nearchos in over a month, and it was some time now since the siege of Dodona was begun. Perhaps his dream was indeed just a dream, and not a vision of the future.

It was on a day when Alexander was worrying that a messenger finally arrived from Dodona...



I was shaken awake by Doros. A force of over 300 rebels had been spotted to the south-west a few days earlier, and now they were forming up for battle. My army was already preparing to take to the field and face them when news arrived that Dodona's garrison was mobilising to practically surround us!

Battle has arisen!

I commanded the men to hasten to a nearby hilltop to make our stand. We were in an advantageous position, our archers could shoot down on the Rebel hoplites as they made their approach. My happiness was cut short however when out of the trees on our flank appeared another 3 units of well armoured hoplites headed towards our formation. I ordered the line to reform, this time facing mostly at the new, more immediate threat.

Formed up on the hilltop	Hoplites in the trees	Reformed line

As soon as the hoplites came within range, my archers opened fire upon them. However, their armour was thick and less damage was done than I would have liked. Soon they were within charging distance and my one unit of Royal Guards launched their javelins and engaged. A unit of Levies was also engaged by the oncoming hoplites. The final unit of hoplites attempted a flanking maneuver, and I commanded a group of Levies to engage them whilst I flanked them with my bodyguard.

Arrow strike!	Guards throw javelins

It took a couple of charges, but their resolve was broken and they began to flee. Meanwhile, a group of Levies had helped out the Royal Guards to rout another unit of hoplites. However, the third unit had charged the rear of my Levies that were pinning the hoplites. I ordered my guard to ride round their flank as fast as possible, at the same time as more Levies charged into their other flank. They too soon broke and routed.

First charge!	Second charge!	Levies aid the Royal Guards	Another unit is broken

The next priority was to reform my original line on top of the hill. Next my archers opened fire on the other Rebel army which had finally come into range. Their lighter hoplites fell more readily and by the time they reached the line were well weakened. I let my infantry engage to pin them and then ordered my bodyguards into the back of the hoplites. They immediately began to flee, followed closely by the peasants fighting alongside them. We ran them down and the day was ours!

Arrows hit more hoplites	The hoplites are engaged	And flanked	The day is ours!

To my dismay however, a tiny number of hoplites were still attempting to hold the town walls. I decided now would be a good time to advance on the town. Sure enough, as I arrived they soon surrendered the place to the Kingdom of Macedon!


King Alexander I of Macedonia ordered for troops to be mustered, and prepared to head to northern Epirus...

[comrade_general]

Another glorious victory for Macedonia as your strength grows once more! Alexander I seems to be kind of lazy about carrying out his dream though; all the work is being done by Nearchos. I eagerly await to read of the exploits in northern Epirus, but watch out for Illyrians up there.

[Son of the King]

Its tough work sitting around worrying in Aigai you know .

[debux]

Uh... whuddup?

[Son of the King]

Got sidetracked with uni/other stuff, and I think that the save is still on my broken hard drive...

[debux]

Oh well... was enjoying it until the sudden silence