ONLINE BATTLE REPORT #345: Pontus vs. Rome
Every so often, I like to mess around with a non-Macedonian faction. On this day, I chose to try my luck at Pontus. In my opinion, Pontus is one of the deadliest factions online. I’m quite surprised that people hardly use them.
For my experiment with Pontus, I had to get into character. I read a short history on Mithridates VI, King of Pontus. He passed himself off as a champion of Greek culture, and gave military aid to nearby Greek cities.
This eventually got him into a fight with Rome. For awhile, Mithridates VI was quite successful in fighting the Romans. On a darker note, he was known for exterminating Roman civilians living in those cities that he passed through.
Anyways, I had no idea that a forumer here was named “Mithradates.” So I apologize to anyone who gets confused by my use of the name, but it is quite famous in Pontic history.
When I got online, I setup a game, and I hoped that my opponent would pick a Roman faction. That would make this battle a historic-confrontation.
As luck would have it, my opponent (HELLBOY) chose the Brutii Romans to confront me. Here’s what our armies looked like:
Mithridates (Pontus)
- 4 Bronze Shield Pikemen (including the general)
- 3 Chariot Archers
- 4 Pontic Heavy Cavalry
- 2 Cappadocian Cavalry
HELLBOY (Brutii Romans)
- 8 Urban Cohorts (including the general)
- 6 Roman Archers
- 1 Heavy Onager
This is how we deployed our armies:
My opponent deployed in a defensive formation expecting a hail of missile fire. And he was right.
I, on the other hand, chose a balanced formation which could be used very offensively. On my wings, I stationed my chariots and my Pontic Heavy Cavalry. Pontic Heavy Cavalry are sweet indeed - not only are they decent heavy cavalry, but they can also skirmish. Behind my pikemen, I stationed a reserve of 2 Cappadocian Cavalry units. Romans don’t like cataphracts in any shape or form. And I was going to exploit any fear that the Romans had! That's the way we roll in Pontus!
So the battle started off with my chariots advancing forward to drain his missile supplies. He gave his Roman Archers order to use flaming arrows (hoping to panic my chariots):
As I said, my chariots had orders to drain those missiles. And so I placed them in Cantabrian Circle. Even with concentrated fire, he was still missing most of his shots:
While his archers were missing my chariots, I was slowly shooting his archers to death with a constant flow of arrows from my 3 chariot archers. I didn’t want this to take forever so I sent my Pontic Heavy Cavalry forward on both wings to speed up the attrition. As my Pontic Heavy Cavalry threw their javelins, I realized that the Roman Archers on both wings were running away from their protective formation. My opponent should’ve disable his skirmish mode because nothing could protect his archers now from my Pontic cavalrymen.
I exploited the situation by chasing his isolated Roman Archers down and massacring them with my Pontic Heavy Cavalry:
Now that my arrows would rule the skies, I was free to strike from any position I wanted. I used a few rounds of arrows on Urban Cohorts who were facing the wrong direction. Urbans fall quickly when you shoot them from behind.
I now brought my Cappadocian Cavalry out from behind my pikemen. I’m going to hit this guy from the flank with my Cappadocians. So I move my Cappadocians out in a position to strike my Roman enemy from the flank. Along the way, a few units of Urban Cohorts threw their pila at my horses. I didn’t lose many horses so I didn’t really care:
At this point, I moved my wall of Bronze Shield Pikemen forward. HELLBOY must’ve been delighted because this was the first time that I presented him with something that could be fought with Urbans. Seeing this opportunity, HELLBOY charged his mass of Urban Cohorts directly into my Pikemen:
Unfortunately for my Roman opponent, my Cappadocians had raced in behind the Urban Cohorts to deliver a death blow:
Almost instantly, a chain-rout occurred among the Roman ranks:
It was not a pretty sight for the Romans. They were surrounded by troops who hated Rome. As my circle of Bronze Shields, Cappadocians, Pontic Heavy Cavalry and Chariots closed in, his huge pocket of Urban Cohorts were reduced to a single unit:
And it wasn’t long before that last batch of Romans was served to my troops for dinner:
Long live, Pontus! Underrated, yet extremely lethal!
(and once again, I apologize to the forumer here named Mithradates. I didn't realize there was someone here with a similar name)