Flowers of Elysium - A Greek AAR

[snuggans]

Flowers of Elysium

Greek City States AAR




Introduction

The Greeks have always had legacies to live up to, legacies to lead them, legacies to inspire them. The days of Alexander and Achilles are far long gone, revered with as much glory as nostalgia. Yet only melancholy flows in the Aegean Sea these years, as the several remaining Hellenic city states watch with sorrow as the ‘Successor’ empires bicker with each other for even the smallest handful of dirt. They’d each gain land and steel but lose things no spear could destroy: their integrity and honor. Had they forgotten what Alexander’s dream was? The Athenians held council many times during those years, they spoke of reason, and they spoke of peace. So.. so many fruitless attempts, yet they simply wiped the sweat from their brow and went back into the squabbling. Countless deals, treaties, and compromises were made, and after many years, there was an atmosphere of tranquility, at least an acceptable level in the wise Athenian’s eyes. The Spartans, not as enthusiastic about politics were satisfied anyway; their relation with Athens grew, as well as Rhodes and Pergamum (their Guardian of Anatolia), for their sea trade proved invaluable, bringing status and recognition into what was once a loose and fragile coalition, now a strong united force. There were many more Hellenic city states beyond these four now popular cities, a portion of them bowed their loyalty to Pyrrhus of Epirus which the Athenians did not care for much, as long as he remained a thorn on the emerging Roman’s backside. Some chose to stay isolated from the rest of the world, unbeknownst to the fact that they were only a tiny stepping stone if a faction decided to launch an invasion near their midst. Many openly defied the ‘babbling’ Athenians and the ‘over proud’ Spartans, believing their true intentions was to join the Diadochi for power. The coalition knew of these threats, but only had a handful of armies to defend with. They had, however, a small sense of ease as they were currently allied with the powerful and legendary Macedonians to the north and the vast Seleucid Empire to the east. The Athenians realized the results of their peace talks would soon fade away, destroyed by the natural greed of men. The four city states held a conference, and it was decided to overhaul the entire infrastructure and to bolster their military might. Having previously resisted invasion by the ever growing monstrous empires and war machines located at their every possible direction, they were confident they could unite Hellenic people all throughout the world. The Athenian’s advocate: to free the oppressed people from their harsh governments; the Spartan’s: to add the weight of steel to the latter. The year was 280 B.C., and a tiny dragonfly had just grown wings.



Rules of Engagement & Occupying Procedures


The Athenians, much to the dislike of several over eager Spartan officials, have made it clear that the coalition will not invade any other faction without an ideal reason, and will only use its military in acts of defense against aggression. In the event where a region has indeed been invaded and subdued, a selected Greek council backed up by a small contingent of spearmen acting as garrison will be established to rule the region until a better suitable governance has been arranged. Under NO circumstance will there be any extermination and/or sacking of the local populace. Looting will be restricted to deceased enemy military personnel only. The use of subterfuge will be limited to assassinations of enemy agents and spying. Due to the code of honor, all agents will be expected to ignore enemy generals, leaders, and diplomats.



Disclaimer & Notes

By now you will realize, I have strayed from actual history. This AAR, like most other AAR and due to the nature of RTW, reinvents history. However feel free to PM me any historical inaccuracies, not because I will correct them but because I am actually interested in reading these, as I am no history buff, but an enthusiast. Comments, suggestions, advice, are also welcome!
Logo background: Copyright © 2005-2007 wallpaperstock.com

[snuggans]

280 B.C. Summer



Faction leader: Kleomenes of Sparta

Faction heir: Demosthenes of Athenai



Regions controlled: Sparta, Athens, Rhodes, Pergamum

Regions gained last year: -

Regions lost last year: -




Our allies, due to the Athenian’s peacetalks, are the Macedonians and the Seleucids. Our enemies: several independent Hellenic city states, a force of independent Gauls, and bands of rebels which have managed to overthrow several city governments. After acts of aggression and several raids into isolated settlements, the council has decided to treat these people with steel and might until they surrender.

The coalition sparks into a speedy and immensely active force, whereas before they were merely regulating trade and training city garrisons.


Pirates had been brought to attention to the Athenian council. The island of Crete, which was once a friendly trading partner with the city states had now gone silent for quite some time and it has been rumored a force of pirates to be the culprit. Due to many fishermen’s account of broken merchant ships washing aboard the coasts of southern Greece, Kleomenes has organized an investigation force that would soon set foot on Cretan land to bring a swift resolution to this manner. Admiral Polydoros loads up a small force of slingers from Rhodes and arrives at the Athenian docks, meanwhile forces from Sparta, including a third of the Royal Guard, make their way to Athens. No support would be sent from Pergamum.



Builders start construction on several shrines throughout the city states, an idea suggested by Demosthenes. These shrines will please the populace and bring a breeze of calm, which would be crucial since the council knew change was looming over the Greek horizon. Diplomats are sent to Thrace and Pontus to negotiate treaties and trade rights.


280 B.C Winter

Before the first eastern breeze of cold could be felt, Kleomenes, along with Demosthenes and several other city state kings and generals were onboard a fleet of biremes under the command of Admiral Polydoros. Morale was low, all the troops except the Spartans were neither joyous nor eager to fight outside of their own lands. Kleomenes expected no less, for he had brought a garrison to fight, not an army. The phalangites were poorly armored, and the doryphoroi with their cheap shields and minimal training were expected to do no more than stop a street fight.

The trip was short and smooth; land was sighted early on in the morning and the troops started to unload on a fairly empty beach. The star of Crete, Cydonia was east, and so the soldiers marched towards the rising sun. After a couple of hours, a force was spotted a mile from the city walls. To Kleomene’s surprise, their standards flew high and proud; … these were no pirates.

Cretans! But these were not the same which Kleomenes had established a friendly relation with. These were not their trading brothers, their instructors in archery…
Kleomenes gave the order, and one of the generals sounded the horn once to alert the force of their presence. Kleomenes and Demosthenes rode forward on their white stallions, the formation behind their backs idle and at attention.

Once they were a formidable distance away from their formation, they expected for the Cretan officer to come about and discuss the situation. Yet nothing was sent forward, although they heard some shouts from the Cretan formation. It was then when they caught sight of what seemed to be dozens of birds lifting from the ground, as if surprised by something. As the black hail approached in closer, Kleomenes lifted his eyebrows, grabbed Demosthene’s reigns and immediately pulled back to their formation, arrows piercing the Cretan land all around them.

A furious Kleomenes gave the order to advance, and so the formation marched towards the rocky formation that now gave shelter to the Cretan force.







As Kleomene’s troops marched forward, a scout caught sight of a general on horseback riding towards the Cretan force, from the direction of the city. The Spartans started joking their general had overslept. This eased the militia phalangites and the flimsy doryphoroi.

As they approached arrow range, and this was an extended range, for they knew they were dealing with Cretans, Kleomenes pointed his sword forward and the cavalry began a sprint towards the Cretan’s right flank for there was many unprotected archers, probably the same ones who opened fire at the lone generals. The vibrating earth, the sounds of horns, and the ever increasing thundering sounds of cavalry must have unnerved the archers, for their arrows were far from being truthful to their targets. As they shortened the length separating their horses from the vulnerable archers, Kleomenes divided the cavalry force into two, with Demosthenes leading the second one. Demosthenes then started aiming for the second formation of archers on their left flank.





The archers started panicking, some fled from the formation. It was too late, Kleomene’s cavalry came down upon them tenfold the power of their previous volleys.







With same results, Demosthenes crashed into the other formation of archers, trotting them down mercilessly.









After sending two formations of their archers running, there stood a solid wall of Cretan hoplites which, although looking menacing, made the mistake of giving their archers no protection whatsoever. Both cavalry divisions avoided them, circling around them and aiming for yet another third formation of archers which had been causing casualties on Kleomene’s militia.

The two cavalry forces became one again, as they tore through the panicking archers. One of the horsemen caught sight of a standard rising above yonder, and it was no more than a few seconds when the enemy general joined the fray, clumsily charging into the backs of their own archers while trying to get at the Greeks.







Both general and any surviving archers were promptly surrounded and destroyed. The Cretan general, surrounded by spears, finally fell much to the dismay of his Cretan troops.




Away from the chaos on the hill, a scout on the echelon of the Greek formation caught sight of a band of Cretan hoplites attempting to flank the phalangites. Demosthenes looked down and briefly gave the order to the southernmost phalangite to meet them.



And so they did.



It was a battle of overhand versus underhand, and although the hoplites suffered greatly in the initial clash, they were able to cut through the spears and penetrate the formation, for the phalangite were only militia and as mentioned before, poorly trained.

The Spartans, angry at the fact they were being used as reserves, circled around the phalangite and slammed into the hoplites’ backs without any order given. This, added to the disheartening death of their general, incited a mass rout in the Cretan army, and the battle was won.










What was left of the garrison in Cydonia laid down their arms and was spared. To the surprise of Kleomenes, the Cretan people welcomed them, claiming the general they had killed known as Iolkios had overthrown the wise but weak government, angry at the alliance between the city states and the Seleucids. Cydonia was occupied peacefully, and now Cretan archery instruction could begin, in addition to valuable naval trade.





Note from the author: this AAR is discontinued

[rogergargantua]

Holy **** !! This is the most beautiful AAR I've ever read and seen !

The way you type down and make your screenies and assemble them together is good stuff man!!!

AWESOME !

[-Aquila-]

Nice AAR! Your writing style is so good!
Continue with the story mate, the story behind the AAR is interesting, keep it up.

[HansDuet]

Nice! Good writing, Nicely edited screens. Keep it up.
+rep.

[rogergargantua]

I'm not much into forums except for this one

But what does it mean when someone says "+rep" ? I read it everytime when somebody is doing good ....or something like that....:hmmm:

lol

[HansDuet]

Reputation

The reputation feature is a fun little thing that enables you to see your community standing with the other members. In theory, the more reputation you have, the more highly thought of you are by the other members of the community. It has no other real meaning, and many members choose to disable it.

Reputation here will be described as if you were using the default Medieval skin. The symbols are different on the Rome skin or the Barbie skin. If you are using the Rome skin, the add rep button is an eagle standard, a Ring is a helmet, and a crown is a legionary standard. The principle is the same however

If, (for whatever unknown reason!) you are using the Barbie skin, the add rep button is the eagle standard again, a ring becomes a type of spangly star, or maybe a flower and a crown is a diamond ring.

Moving swiftly back to the default Medieval Skin then...

How do i give rep?
You can add reputation to a post by clicking this button, on the left
reputation.gif
You can only add 1 point of rep to each post, and you can only give 7 points total a day.
Additionally, you have to rep have different users before you can give rep to the same user again.

Who can give Rep?
Because of issues with account cloning in the past, where people created accounts just to give themselves rep, only users with over 50 posts give rep that counts. Users with less than 50 posts will give a 0 rep point, instead of 1, so any comments they leave will show up in your account, but you won't actually get a point for it. Please note, when a user jumps over the 50 post mark, rep they have given prior to that does not suddenly count.

Where does Rep show?
Your reputation shows up in 2 places. On the left hand side where you post, a collection of symbols shows a rough guide to how much rep you have, and in your control panel, there's a more comprehensive display of the last 20 rep points you received, showing which post you got it for, who gave it, and any comment they left.

Can i disable reputation?
Yes, you can disable your reputation in your control panel. If you do so, your own rep won't show up, but you'll still be able to give other people rep as well as receive it yourself.

What does it look like?
Each symbol represents a certain number of rep points. It starts at five, so if you have less than 5 rep points, you'll show the scales symbol for neutral rep.
reputation_balance.gif - Neutral Rep
Some very few members who have received neg rep from the staff will have this replaced by a red square. Those users who have disabled the reputation feature will simply show a grey square.
Once you hit 5 rep points, you'll get 1 gold ring
reputation_pos.gif
Each ring = 5 points, so if someone has 5 rings, they have 25 Rep points. You can only get a maximum of 5 rings, after that we move on to Crowns
reputation_highpos.gif
Each crown is worth 15 rep points, so to add a crown to your 5 rings, you need at least 40 rep points.
In summary then

* Scales: 0-4 Rep
* 1 Ring: 5-9 Rep
* 5 Rings: 25-39 Rep
* 5 Rings 1 Crown: 40-54 Rep
* and so on

to look at mine at the time of writing, i have 5 Rings and 9 Crowns

* 5 × 5 = 25 Rep
* 9 × 15 = 135 Rep

so my minimum rep would be 160. At the time of writing I actually had 170 rep, 5 short of gaining my 10th Crown.

[rogergargantua]

Aahhh yea ! nice ! I see it now yea! You have had a lot of reps !
HEy nice, I just discovered that approx 5 ppl gave me reps once ...i have one ring !

It says "im off to a good start"

thanks for all the great info! +rep for that, lol !!

...and sorry it was off-topic!

Back to this great AAR! When is the next update coming?

[Balikedes]

Way to go Snuggans!?, what a superbly done AAR! You serve the screenshots well with the backstory...please keep it up.
Bal

[chris1974]

WaynehMarls, great storyline to your AAR almost like an alternative history to what the Greeks could have done after Alexander. Wonderful!

[snuggans]

When is the next update coming?

mmm, maybe next week? or the end of this weekend, i have monday off.

thank you all for the compliments!

i have one question for you viewers running on 1024x768 resolution and such, how are the screenshots/text? do they stretch the forum page? i made an effort for that not to happen but i can't tell because im running a widescreen res.

[Balikedes]

For me, the text just squeezes in to the margins so I don't have to scroll left/right. The pics look like they have been taken on a widescreen display but that is not a bad thing.

[Ferrus]

Excellent work! keep it up! + rep =)

[Scutarii]

+ rep for this! Really good writing, awesome opening posts. Keep it coming.

[snuggans]

280 B.C Winter

[Continuation]



To support the construction of several shrines throughout the city states and the upkeep of a new, evolving army, taxes everywhere except Sparta rise gradually. This is received by the people in a tolerating manner, inspired by their new places of worship as well as the unification with Crete. The coalition’s treasury is boosted into a healthy state.







To the northeast, in Asia Minor, and in the immediate area of fellow city state Pergamum, trade caravans had been assaulted and stripped bare, left with little to no survivors. Upon hearing this news, the governor Mesaulios stated he would send out small forces to search and subdue any bandits. The merchant survivors laughed at this, stating “Bandits wear hoplons, spears, and carry Greek standards with them now?” Mesaulios instantly knew Cyzicus, an isolated Greek city who had fallen out of contact for decades, was to blame. Only the finest diplomats were sent, only to be received in a hostile fashion.







The Cyzicians did not even bother to deny the alleged attacks, calling Pergamum a “dog” of the Seleucid Empire. Mesaulios, confused at why fellow Greeks would react in such a rash manner to a ‘mere’ alliance, acted intelligently and sent word to the Athenian council. It was promptly discussed, and the council left the method of retaliation up to Mesaulios, clearly pointing out the coalition’s relation with Seleucid was fragile and anything that would damage it should be rid of. Mesaulios, with a bitter taste in his mouth, advanced north with a handful of phalangites and newly arrived archers from Crete. The siege would begin near the end of winter.







Further south in Asia Minor, more problems emerged. It seemed the Greek order of the day was to disrupt the coalition’s trade with Seleucid cities. Merchant ships from Rhodes were being attacked daily by Greek biremes, and Seleucid trade routes along the coast were under constant assault. A minor Seleucid emissary was sent to Athens, asking for assistance to this small problem as the empire’s attention was focused elsewhere at the moment. The council immediately agreed, sending word to Kleomenes to set sail for famous Halicarnassus. Kleomenes delightfully agreed, leaving Crete with a mid-sized army and a worried Demosthenes who started feeling hypocritical. Blood would surely be spilled in Asia Minor in the upcoming years.






279 B.C Summer



Regions controlled: Sparta, Athens, Rhodes, Pergamum, Cydonia

Regions gained last year: Cydonia

Regions lost last year: -



Back in Cyzicus, Mesaulios initiated the assault on the walls as soon as the first ram was built and tested. This urgency was needed, as scouts reported seeing reinforcements coming from the northeast.







The battle began with a common advance; the flimsy phalangite militia moving the ram closer to the settlement gate, but out of javelin range (and this was pointed out clearly by Mesaulios), in order to avoid becoming targets by the thureophoroi skirmishers inside.







The fresh Cretan archers were immediately put to use, and wisely directed by Mesaulios, they continuously shot volleys into the settlement.







They could not see their targets, but every now and then the enemy standard bearer made the mistake of showing the flag over the walls, and the skirmishers, while trying to avoid the archer volleys, made a noticeable amount of noise from the cacophony of their feet bluntly hitting the hard streets. These small but critical mistakes led to many Cyzician casualties…







Mesaulios ordered the archers to cease fire once their ammunition held at a third of their previous amount. He believed the soldiers could now peacefully break open the settlement gate without an overwhelming amount of javelin fire from inside the walls, and so the ram was ordered forward and the gates were smashed open without a single casualty, proving Mesaulios correct. It seemed the enemy skirmishers and hoplites had moved deeper into the town to avoid being Cretan targets. The phalangite was the first to go in.







As they finished forming into phalanx whilst staring at the enemy hoplites a street away near the plaza, they heard orders being shouted to their right. The town buildings did their part in muffling the sounds of the shouts, but failed to be a formidable obstacle between the skirmishers and the phalangite..









Mesaulios and his force of cavalry quickly turned the corner to engage the tricky skirmishers. All it took was one swift charge.







A third of the enemy garrison had already been done away with, and Mesaulios began his movement towards the plaza from three different directions.







Their strongest phalangite would approach from the center street, expected to draw the attention of the dangerous hoplites. Another phalangite would approach from the left, their main objective: defend the archers, the ones who would shoot over the phalangite’s heads and into the plaza. Mesaulios himself inched closer from the right and out of sight, in the hopes of delivering a most stunning blow to the backs of the enemy while engaged with the phalangite.







Not all of Mesaulios’ predictions came true; the remaining enemy skirmisher force, annoyed by the archer fire, wasted little time and blatantly charged into the left phalangite. Mesaulios improvised and led his cavalry into the backs of the light skirmishers, ending them.







The general now withdrew to the north of the plaza, cutting short a chase from the hoplites. This gave the phalangites time to form around the center. The hoplites caught sight of this and returned, only to break into a full sprint towards the phalangite.







The hoplites easily penetrated the first three rows of spears, forcing Mesaulios’ troops into a close melee, much to the advantage of the hoplites. However, they were being gradually surrounded.







Mesaulios then initiated his third and final charge of the battle, devastating the hoplites and pushing some into the deadly spears of the phalangite.







The Cyzician captain was one of the last ones to be killed, his green attire littered with his own blood.







The Greeks who prevailed raised their spears towards the sky, cheering and thanking Nike & Athena. The battle was over.











Cyzicus is then occupied, bringing a sense of security to merchants in northwestern Asia Minor.

[EMV]

Bloody Fantastic! This puts every other AAR to shame! +rep!

[Balikedes]

The battle of Halcarnassus looks to be a good one, the General appears to be waiting for Kleomenes right there on the coast!
Good update!

[supeerme]

The pictures are making the page too wide...but as you got wide screen,it dosn't matter that much.

[snuggans]

The pictures are making the page too wide...but as you got wide screen,it dosn't matter that much.

what resolution are you running?

[Sparta1233]

Very nice battles cant wait for a update.