[BI AAR] Sassanid AAR

[Selifator]

Seeing as a lot of the AAR's that I enjoyed have stalled or just given up I decided to do my first ever AAR. I have played BI a couple of times and my favourite faction is Sassanids, I just love the combination of Horse Archers and Clibinarii.
So I'll make an attempt at a story to entertain myself and hopefully a couple of other people as well. Keep in mind that I may go crazy trying to do this, but I will certainly do my best. Nothing worse than a (good) AAR being abandoned mid-game.
Expect the intro tomorrow, late evening now and tomorrow morning/afternoon I have my last two tests. So I'll make a customary intro and immerse myself a bit into Sassanid history for fun and roleplay.
Hope that I have at least made some of you interested.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

Good, I can't wait to hear about your campaign!

On a side note: have you ever considered using the Parthians online? They're very similar to the Sassanids.

Just a thought!

[Selifator]

Yeah, but I really don't like the color pink that they used for Parthia. In warhammer, a cult of chaos also uses pink but that is usually more purple (though I have seen a full pink army once ). And Armenia, they just don't have that special thing. Plus I don't like their special units.
And no matter what I promise myself, I simply don't get online. I do with my 360, just not with Rome. And I have won so that isn't really a problem.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

If you don't like the color pink, you can adjust the colors on your monitor

Anyways, I still think it's cool that you use Scythia exclusively.

[Selifator]

Prologue

I hate war. I have always done so. War only brings death to men and sadness to women. War brings destruction to our cities and famine to our land. Death, pain, suffering. All those are the price of war.
But there is one thing worse than starting a war yourself. Being drawn into a war started by another. Romans. The Romans had the world, or so they say.
They had the world but were to weak to keep it. Why? Because they brought war. And they still do not know. They are still ignorant children.
So I will fight, and I will not relent. The Romans must be annihilated. Every single man, women and child must be made to forget their Roman life.
Ahura Mazda wills it. He has spoken to me. I will be the one to begin this scourge and if He wills it, I will be the one to end it.

And so it will begin.



@ Prince, thanks for the compliment but it's basically the same as you do. Playing one faction simply because you like them. And I like to play a faction that doesn't get used much, even in the HA tourny.

[Selifator]

First turn.

My name is Shapur and I will lead the Sassanid Empire to glory in the name of Ahura Mazda. He has shown me the way I must take, though I hate the bloodshed that is sure to come, I will steel my heart and leave none alive who stand against me. But the situation is not good. Many men have rallied to me but most of them are peasants with a spear and shield. I have few troops who can stand against the Romans. Thus I ordered great reforms to take place.
Looking at the forces available at me I disbanded half of them. I really have no use for slingers and skirmishers, unexperienced spearmen were also disbanded and sent back to the fields. This leaves me with a reasonable cavalry force. Unfortunately I can't send one of my generals with them since they must govern the cities.

I sent all available forces to Hatra. I will start my campaign from there.
The Grand Army of Ahura Mazda has gathered. Since one of my daughters found a boy of some promise, I approved of their marriage.

He can govern the city in my stead to gain some experience and I can begin my divine quest. Destroy the Eastern Roman Empire.
I ordered the army to go forward. Since my small retinue only contains cavalry, we will catch up quickly.

A messenger has just brought a message from the Grand Army. Apparently the Romans have gathered at the other side of the river, though it remains to be seen if they will stay there.


A small Roman force stays behind, why they did not gather in one force I do not know. But it does not matter, they are Romans and they will die. I order the army to attack with the sole purpose of annihilation. These Romans must learn their place, at the side of the dead.

My name is Yazdegerd. I have been appointed commander of the Grand Army untill our glorious leader comes to us. I deploy the army in an orderly fashion.

These Romans are scared to move at the sight of the gathering of Zoroastrians. They have only infantry and one group of archers.
Encircling them will be easy. My light cavalry circle around while the spearmen march to the enemy. The clibinarii move to flank the main Roman group.

Especially those comitatenses, as I heard from a tactician at my military school. These warriors are a match for any of our footsoldiers. But not for clibinarii, they rip through them like a scythe through grain. The sight of our shining armor scares the enemy, we must look like avengers sent from the heavens to make these dogs repent for their crimes.
The Romans run like the dogs they are, but I have my orders and the fire of Ahura Mazda burns through my veins! I order my cavalry to pursue the routers. All Romans will die.

When the silence settles again over the lands, all the Romans are dead. We have lost some of our men but still a thousand men are left to fight. And I believe that all those will be needed in the years to come.

Roman presence has definitely been confirmed. Yazdegerd reported more Romans streaming into the border country. They must be nervous that they have not heard from their warriors. Their fate can be guessed by them, but not confirmed. This will create uncertainty among their ranks, their soldiers knowing that they too can dissapear without a thrace.


Splits personalities
So, big post for me but the begin has been made. If you are a member and read this please leave a comment (gives me the idea that someone is actually reading this ) and if you are not a member SIGN UP! This is a great site and being a member is great fun.
I hope that people enjoy this since the only time when I made something approaching this was in a swap game, and that wasn't half as big as this is gonna be. This post cost me probably about an hour and a half of playing and writing. I don't dare to think about the time that's going to be in this.....
Update will probably a small one on thursday and a bigger one on friday. Maybe I'll update something on sunday but I have to retake one or two tests so I need to learn for those. See you soon!

[Subrosa Florens]

Hey Selifator I saw your comment on the other forum and came to see. I do not get here much anymore, except to look for modding info. So I never would have noticed otherwise.

Looks very interesting. As the Sassanids you really get some powerful cavalry, and I know there is some tough infantry in those Sugdhians as well.

Are you going to do the entire thing in character? If so I suggest you stick to just the Sassanid Faction Leader (or is it perhaps the high priest working through the Faction Leaders as they come and go?) recounting what has happened, otherwise it can get a little confusing.

btw, you got some of the images mixed up above, it looks like the last and the third from the last ought to be swapped.

[Selifator]

Thanks, I'm gonna try to play as the faction leader (but I forgot to mention his name....). In every battle I post, I'm gonna try and play it in character. Thus if my faction leader isn't there I'll play with the captain. And explain who he is, etc.

[Selifator]

For those who do not know, my name is Shapur and I am ruler of the Sassanid Empire. I have begun the holy campaign against the Romans, which will drive them from lands which belong to us.

I have wanted to join this crusade myself, but Ahura Mazda has spoken otherwise. He noticed a capable general amongst my ranks, one who I had not noticed. This man is called Melchior and I have appointed him Eran Spahbod, Commander of all Sassanid forces. This man shall lead our armies to holy destruction.

I have decided this because Bahram could not govern the city as well as I did. So I instructed him to take the place of Melchior and I shall once again take up the reins in Ctesiphon. Though I wanted to lead the army myself, this is for the best for all people in our Empire and their survival goes before my own wishes.
I have instructed the army to take up defensive position at the bridge. This will allow for retraining of men and for the reinforcements to catch up with the army.
I have also gathered a force of lesser soldiers to subjugate some rebels in the north of our lands. How can we hope to destroy the Romans if there are still people in our lands who are not a part of our empire?]

Ships have been sent north to see if there are other settlements along the inner sea. We need to trade if we want to finance the war. If there are none that will trade we will make them ours.

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

This is definately getting really interesting. I'll be checking this out daily .

[Miraj]

Awsome AAR.

Quick religious point: Zoroastrians don't actually worship or prescribe divinity to "Zoroaster", he was just a prophet and a wise man. "Ahura Mazda" would be the proper god to call for help or blessings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda

[Selifator]

Cmdr_Sdxo, thanks. I was a bit anxious how this would fall, but seems like it works out. The roleplay is kinda difficult though.

mirage41, thanks for that! I read the whole thing so expect to see Ahura Mazda to shine on the glorious conquest of the Sassanid Empire.

I'm gonna post the next update as soon as I can (which will be today).

I cannot stand this. Even when we send our army forth, armed and armoured, an army for which our entire empire has laboured and even then the Romans send their forces away. We shall punish them for underestimating us. Perhaps they did not understand the meaning of the annihilation of their army. I ordered Melchior to quickly catch up to the army, and I sent orders to the commanding officer in the Grand Army to strike a blow at the heart of the Roman Empire.


I ordered the attack on Antioch. Carefull preperation of a spy network ensured that the gates were sabotaged before the battle. Only a swift force of clibinarii, horse archers and some raiders could reach the city. I hope that they are enough...





I received the report of the officer who led the attack,
"Great One, we attacked the Roman city of Antioch in the early morning. The city was almost abandoned save for the Roman Emperor with his bodyguard and some infantry. However, these forces would still be able to crush us. The retinue of the Roman leader was equal or better than any of my men and the infantry were elites. However, they were Romans and we are Sassanids. The outcome was clear from the beginning. We entered the city and made for the town square where the Roman dogs had holed up.



Their infantry attacked the clibinarii, but I gave them no time to attack and ordered the charge. We crushed them, and in the meantime the other warriors held up the Roman leader. Brave men gave their lives for our victory, they will be remembered.




We attacked the leader and after a furious fight surrounded him and slew him.





In you name, Great One, we have exterminated the city and sent the gold back to our cities.
All the other troops came with us into the city by forced march. We now have full control of the city and have facilities to train our best units.
Your obedient servant,
Peroz."


Now the Romans will understand the message written in the blood of thousands. If not, we will drag their faces through the streets filled with Roman corpses and show them their rightfull place in the world. I hate war, but I hate Romans even more. And to erase them from this world, I will do everything in my power. Ahura Mazda has ordered their destruction and I will deliver.

With all the treasure we stole from Antioch we are now the richest empire in the known world. And the Romans will make our treasury even bigger as we take their lands.

A Roman force approached on our new city and I would not have them there, being a symbol of resistance against us.
A large force of clibinarii and horse archers were sent out to deal with them. The Roman army consisted of several light infantry with spears, some cavalry archers and some foot-archers.

I ordered the officer to do as he saw fit, but to take only light casualties. Although Antioch can train the best troops we have, it does not have a large population to train from, not anymore.
This is the report I got from the commander,
"Great One, we have destroyed the enemy as ordered. Some were able to escape but they fled into the desert and will not trouble us anymore. We approached the enemy from atop a hill and I ordered the horse archers onward.

They drew out the enemy infantry which I charged with the clibinarii. They were only light infantry and quickly destroyed.


Some raiders were sent to encircle the enemy. After that we surrounded the enemy and destroyed him.

A great victory for Ahura Mazda."





Now that we have a strong foothold in the Roman lands I will send out raiding parties to find and besiege cities. If they sally we will kill them, if not they will die of hunger and thirst. Romans do not belong in this world, it is ours.

Personal note
I'm not entirely satisfied with the text. I think I have too little text for the amount of pictures I add. Anyone got thoughts on this?

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

Dunno, the pic/text ratio is fine by me :/.
Also, a great update once again. These always make an entertaining read, especially because of the 'roleplay'.

[Selifator]

Cmdr_Sdxo, thanks for the compliment! I'm happy people enjoy it, since this is my first AAR ever. I'll play a lot on saturday and have a rebel settlement captured, small battle against romans and plan to attack a medium stack that has appeared below Antioch. I'm making my way south and will then attack north. I'm not taking Constantinople untill it is the last ERE territory.
I want to destroy the faction before the game ends. It will be my grand finale.

[Subrosa Florens]

I see that you are using Photobucket's Bulk Uploader. Have you noticed how your pictures are all a little fuzzy looking? That is because even when it is set to a max image size of 1024x768 it resizes them slightly smaller. The picture gets blurry when it does it. Each time before you upload in bulk you need to go to the bulk uploader options and set it a max file size of 1 megabyte. Then the pics will come out fine.

I think the amount of text to pictures is fine. It conveys exactly what is happening, and that is what matters. I also like how you are writing the battles as reports from the front lines. That is a very nice touch. Also excellent use of your cavalry in that open field battle there.

[Selifator]

Thanks for the tip. They look a little bit worse than the first pictures.

Our war goes better each day. We slay more and more Romans and approach their settlements. I have ordered scouting parties and spies to look for settlements in the north. I have heard tales of hordes of men in the north, and I wish to focus all troops on the Romans.
I also need to expand the empire if we want to become strong enough to overcome all the Romans. Though we have a solid foothold we lack the troops needed to hold both the city of Antioch and push on to the south. I am travelling to Antioch myself to increase my influence there.
Melchior will lead the assault on the south.
And I have good news. Another settlement in the north has been conquered, named Kotais. The population was none too happy, since they were christian. I increased the garrison and sent my eldest son to them.
This is the report I got, apparently the battle was very easy. This is good since we need to preserve manpower for the war against the Romans.
"Greetings Great One,
I have great news for you. We have conquered the settlement of Kotais.
I assembled the troops in midday ready for an attack.


I had built two rams, so I deployed the troops in two detachments. One for each gate, this way we could split the defenders.




One gate only had a group of herdsmen guarding it, the other gate was abandoned. We could easily break through without a fight.


When we broke through I marched my troops in a two way assault on the town square. Some of my spearmen attacked a band of slaves and approached from a different direction, since they tried to catch the running fools.


My spearmen performed well, but the enemy never stood a chance. Cavalry in a city against spearmen, such a battle has only one outcome.


Victory was ours.


I let the population live, but they did not appreciate this sign of 'weakness', as some called it. I hope that your son will make these people listen to reason and accept their fate.
Your obedient servant,
Commander Uvaxshtra"

They will listen to reason, otherwise they will listen to bared steel.
I ordered some troops to attack Roman scout forces. Although these weren't even worth the name 'forces'. I do not know what fool ordered these Romans to enter our land, but he does not have a clue as how to scoute the land of an enemy.
The battle was quick, we lost only a couple of men.




I do not care if it are Roman scouts or nobles. All will die.

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

I see you're doing pretty nicely there,soon the whole of Asia will fall =).
Also, take good care of the golden mask guy(Melchior?) .

[Selifator]

Well, I've only just established a foothold so conquering the whole of Asia will take while. I have Sion under siege, with four horse archers against a general, 1 equites and lots of infantry.
Also, I'm training a force to conquer a tribus settlement. I built two ports which can't trade with each other...
My faction leader is now in Antioch, he upped the finance by between 500 and thousand.
Melchior will make for the south. He needs to conquer Jerusalem.
Hope to update tomorrow. Things are shaping up to be interesting

[Selifator]

I haven't quit on the AAR. Even though I didn't post this weekend, I'm still going strong. I have a couple of battles ready and waiting. Real Life has just turned nasty on me though. I completely screwed up my tests so I have to turn my attention to school. Updates will probably be limited to tuesday and the weekend (glad rugby season hasn't started yet...)
And of course holidays. So keep your eyes peeled because tomorrow the conquest continues!

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

Don't worry, you'll have a patient audience.. .With some AARs you can be grateful to see them updated once/twice every two weeks so your updates have come mad fast in comparison.