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Thread: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

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    Gen.jamesWolfe's Avatar Vicarius
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    Default [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    At the suggestion of pseudo romanus, I have decided to write an AAR about my only finished IBFD campaign. warning! few pictures will be available, and I'm doing this out of recollection ( I played it 5 months ago). I'm going also by my records, a kind of miniature notitia dignitatum. also, I'm writing this in roman eyes, so expect innacurate territorial dispositions (ezept for the ERE of course).

    The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus of Atiochus:

    Prologue:

    As I sit in the safety and comfort of my Antioch home, I look back to the Fortunes of the empire, 50 years ago. It was the year 410AD. the world was in Anarchy; all was in Chaos. ever since the honorable Theodosius magnus died in 395AD, the roman Empire was split into two worlds: one east, and one west. the west was ruled by a misfit named Honorius, son of Theodosius, who has just had the mother of cities, glorious Rooma, sacked by the Visigoths. the Vandals are thrashing Spain, the franks are pressing the rhine, and worst of all, a rebel by the nme of Constantinus has usurped power in Gallia, compelling the Empreror to abandon the Britons to the merciless Saxones. the situation is desperate indeed in the west:



    beyond our common frontiers, lay the black forests of Barbarian Europa; hords of savage, uncivilized tribes abode there to this day. they harsassed our frontier for centuries, but we had always stopped them, thanks to the power of our Empreros and the help of God. but it seemed god had abandoned us to our fate. We, the poeple of the east, were wealthier than the west, but we were still led by another misfit, this time another of Theodosius' sons, Arcadius. he had reigned for 15 years on us, showing us how an Empreror ought not to behave. in the mean time, the sassanids have harried at our eastern borders, the Ostrogothi have been raveging our lands along the Dunube, and our empreror did not but sit in his palace, surrounded by the court harlots and Eunuchs. worst, lay the Machinations of the Western Roman Magister Militum, a man named Aetius.

    but now, things were changing. Arcadius had died, taken away by a merciful lord. behind him, we had thrown away 15 years of corruption. we looked forward to our new Empreror, Theodosius Flavius, a relatively minor and petty man by Flavian standards. He would soon show his true nature as Empreror...
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


  2. #2

    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Nice opening!
    More! more! more!
    Please!

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    Gen.jamesWolfe's Avatar Vicarius
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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    allright: before I begin chapter 1, bear in mind that I will be going from east to west, effectively cutting the chapters in 2 parts, so chapters 1 and 2 = chapter 1.

    Chapter 1 (410-417AD, east):

    Theodosius took the throne no sooner was Arcadius' body cold. he was crowned in the Church, and went to the palace to begin his duties. many thought that he would turn out to be better than the old emreror Arcadius; many believed that anybody would be better. but we were wrong. rather than attend to the matters of state, as was required by the Emrprero, he left the care of the Administration to local strong men, who were bent on furthering their gains than the Empire's, confining himself to his pleasure palace in Constantinople. However, unlike Arcadius, many of them turned out to be successful appointments. the first thing done by this council of strong men was to reform the tax system of the empire: a standardized and rigid tax system caused much unrest through the empire. this was particularily true of palaestina, whre the population was up in arms: within 2 years, the empire's state was solvent, and we made 20000 denarii a year. The coucilmen then turned to the religious issues that plagued the empire: several cities were in anarchy inspite of fair taxation, and that was due to religious differences; pagans wanted pagan governers, rioting when a christian ruled, and vica versa. but before they began to straighten the religious problems, disaster struck.

    a-the Eastern provinces: the east, Syria, Palaestina, and several other places, were our richest provinces, then and now. they are a turbulent and voletile mixture of syrians, Arabs, Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. the capital of the Syrian provinces was Callinicum, best describes as a pot of boiling water. it was continuously up in arms, inspite of a massive garrison, and fairer taxation. it was only a matter of time before it got out of hand. and in the summer of 412AD, it did. violent revolts broke out in Syria due to an Arab being assaulted by a christian fanatic, with secondary ones in Egypt and parts of Armenia, all while the romans were campaigning successfully to captur hatra, in wake of a battle near Callinicum. at one point, the city of thebes broke away, and thwarted the garrison's attempts at recapture. and to make matters worse, the sassanids invaded the empire through the city of Hatra, laying siege to the city's 600 man garrison. on hearing this, the roman governer of Syria sent for several field armies from the other strong men: Isauria, Armenia, and tarsus. luckily, they responded imediately; many realized that the loss of Syria threatened them, as it removed a buffer between sassan and them. he himself mustered as many men as possible from Jerusalem and philedelphaia, as well as my native ciy of Antiochia. meanwhile, to add to the chaos, a local strongman set himself up in the muntains of Anatolia, and necessatated sending more men at him, rather than the more dangerous sassanids.

    in the meantime, the sassanids sent smaller armies towards Jerusalem and Calinicum. the local garrisons, composed of limitanei and hippotoxotai, managed to repel them, but with heavy loss to themselves. they themselves held to sieging Hatra. eventually, the garrison would starve out, they reasoned. and as for the governer, he assembled the men near Antioch and to the east, and beheld his army: elements from isauria and Cilicia, as well as Syria were present: there was a artillery train, 5 legions, 2 cataphracti squadons, and 2 parthain horse archer squads, as well as maures and 2 units Graves archers; the entire force was around 750 men, minus siege train. he learned that he could only march on Hatra to its relief in 3 turns, and as the Armenian field army had not arrived, he'd have to wait another 5; he will not be there in time to save the city of Hatra. but if he dropped his siege train, he could make it there in 1 turn, and possibly drive back the 1300 sassanids waiting for him. so he marched on this way with all possible speed; on the way, he linked up with 2 units more of armati, fresh from damascus, were there was a riot recently that was quelled. the army attacked the Sassanids in the dead of tthe summer and at night, surprising them and forcing them back, as with the legionary units in the city, the romans totalled 1350 men. the governer however ddn't stop there; he learned that the sassanid army, under a certain Buran, was between 2 mountains, 10 miles from the Euphrates river, and the safety of his lands. by then, the remaining 1100 sassanids were tired, and must have appeared easy targets tot the governer. so he marched on there, taking a roundabout way so as to fool the sassanids and surprise them. they met 20 miles off the city of hatra.
    the battle field was a wide open plain sloping slightly upwards, with 2 mountain chains on either side of it. the ground was sandy and soft, making movement hard. to make matters worse for both, the battle was on a particularily windy day, with the wind blowing from the east, causing a violent sandstorm that raged the whole day. the sassanids deployed uphill from us, towards the high end of the plain. the battle began with the cataphracti, who were to the right of the roman line, attcking and successfully breaking the Savaran on the sassanid left, while simultaniously the maures and parthi on the roman left engaging in a violent arrowstorm with the savaran to the right. the infantry were in the center, shields locked, swords sticking out, and with the archers to the rear firing ar them. they steadily advanced at the sassand center, where they ran into hordes of unwashed savge deylamites, who summarily exchanged javelins with the two lanciari units facing them and to th right of the roman line. the sassanid infantry proper attach the armati in the left, and the armati to the center held there own advancing forward to tackle he Archers who were shooting at the parthi.

    meanwhile, the cataphracti to the right were set upon by waves of Savaran and Asawira cavalry, smashing the formation and routing the right. at the same time, the savaran, having mauled the parthi and maures to the left, routed the parthi, amassacred the maures and turned on the archers to the rear. the governer threw himself into the frey at the same time, to help the lanciarii. as that happened the sassanids struck the rear and front of the roman infantry line at once, and to the center. all was expected to collapse. yet miraculously, the center held the line, and the left cavalry, the parthi, and some of the right rallied. now reduced to a collective number of 20, out of what was once 270 men, they threw themselve to support the center, whch finally, after desperate and bloody fighting, collapsed unto itelf, tearing the sassanid line in half. meanwhile, the sagittarii to the rear took to their swords, but, finding that sassanid spears were deadlier, ran away anyways. the cavalry then fell into the left rear of the romans, wavering the armati, but not breaking them. they rallied, and put the savaran to flight, all while forcing the sassasnid infantry back. in the right however, the situation was exceptionally desperate: the lanciarii were losing cohesion, sence of direction, were out of javelins, and worst of all, totally surrounded with their governer, by deylamites, infantry, and now waves of pushtigban from the sassanid general himself, and the royal archers, along with the feared peroozetae; some say the unit was a gyan avspar unit. in any case, the lanciarii were on the verge of collapse, when another miracle happened: inexptricably, the elephants the sassanids brought, fearsome animals the size of buildngs, suddenly bolted around, and caused momontary confusion to the sassanids; they began to quake and shudder, fearing the elephants were about to be on them. at the same ime, the lanciarii rallied once more, and reinforced by recently freed comitatenses armati from the left, did the unbelievable: they routed 3 times their number: 250 men routed 750 men, a true coup, and elites at that. the sassanid commander fled the field, where he dissapeared: some say he was killed in the withdrawel, others, that he made it, joined a second wave, and was defeated once more, and killed in that battle. either way, the resistance of the sassanid troops was crushed: of the 1100 sassanids, scarcely 200 made it out alive, most from the phaighan. but the romans also paid dearly: the governer lost a third of his men, most from the cavalry, but a decent amount from the infantry as well. the field was littered with the corpses of the dead and he dying, and vultures curcled around the sie for months. peasants to this day still find brocken shields, weapons, and dead bodies to this day. after that, the governer of Syria, realizing the futility of persuit, retreated to Hatra and retrained the mn as best as possible. he also began to secretly stash money for the upcoming secon wave of sassanid troops. at the same time, a second, much smaller column was routed to the south, near philipdelphaia, further saving roman territory, and enticing the lakhmids to cide with us in the war on sassan.

    meanwhile, back in asia minor, the rebel leader who hid in the mountains was set upon by a inexperianced roman general; the roman was defeated. and this necessitaed a second and then third wave of troops to deal with him once and for all. he was found dead on the roadside, where his men slit his throat afer retreated from their seond defeat. the aftermath was the collapse of similar rebellions, often after short, sharp battles in the mountain sides; some even defected, ad returned to roman service. and as for the rebellion in Egypt, the troops stationed in Alexandria went to thebes, and after several skirmishes with brigands, and the king of the rebels, captured thebes after a long and bloody siege. the poeple were put to the sword after a violent 5 day rampage through the city; men were hung from the palms and women were repeatedly raped. the dogs fed off the bodies of the dead and the dying, and as many as 3000 were carted off to serfdom, or the grave. all the while, the roman governer recied instructions: very unusual ones: he was to raise 5 legions, not for the rebellion, but for the purpose of reconquering the west.

    next: chapter 2 (410-417, west, and summary)
    Last edited by Gen.jamesWolfe; July 09, 2008 at 03:40 PM.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


  4. #4

    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Good!, gotta question though who is this Odaenathus? A soldier? Looking forward to reading more.

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    Gen.jamesWolfe's Avatar Vicarius
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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Quote Originally Posted by PSEUDO ROMANUS View Post
    Good!, gotta question though who is this Odaenathus? A soldier? Looking forward to reading more.
    a random historian and ex soldier really. he doesn't figure now. his name is a latinization of the arabic name uthainah (little ear). he's just like procopius, just trashing one empreror.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    cool!....I started a campaign as the ere too, its my fist, and I found it thoroughly insane, I mean I have enemy's all around and half my troops are the local selection of barbarians. but since I love the barbs any way, thats ok!
    PS it is so perfect its just how I like it...I mean, I have so much money so good troops, but so many enemies, so It is two or three battles every turn! I just got 10k from exterminating the sassids capital with one army with onangers so I don't have to build rams and such.
    "WE WILL SMITE THE INVADERS FROM OUR SKIES! Though they sweep over our lands like the sands of winter, never again will we bow before them; never again endure their oppression; never again endure their tyranny. We will strike without warning and without mercy, fighting as one hand, one heart, one soul. We will shatter their dreams and haunt their nightmares, drenching our ancestors' graves with their blood. And as our last breath tears at their lungs; as we rise again from the ruins of our cities...they will know: Helghan belongs to the Helghast." -Scholar Visari

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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Chapter 2: the west (410-417AD):


    meanwhile, as violence raged in the east, the west was no more peaceful in nature. the frontiers to the north of the danube contain Huns, Goths and several undesirable poeples, mnay posing a thrett to the mighty empire. up unil now however, they have not constituted a serious threat. but in 412 AD, as the sassanids inveded our eastern provinces, the Osrogothi crosed the danuge in a mighty horde; any of the frontier towns had to be evacuated immediately of their troops, to confront the menace: 5 columns each with almost 1400 men marched south towards constantinople. in response, the governer of the danubian provinces mustered just 800 men, with reinforcements of around 600 men. he march north, util he reached a mountainous area north of Adrianopolis.

    the terrain of the battlefiled was a giant mountain, in which the romans held the highground. ahead of them, on a lower mountain, lay the hordes: 2600 unwashed barbarians in 2 armies, quickly reinforced one another. as for the main army, it took position on the higher mountain, hoping for reinforcements from the 600 men to come. it never did. realizing this, the governer retreated from the battlefield after a brief exchange of missles with the goths. the romans lost 150 men, most from the retreat, while the ostrogothi lost 100 men, from the misslie exchange.

    seeing the fultility of holding the terrain, the governer retreated towards the town of Hadrianopolis, with the 600 men reinforcing him. then, as he decamped at the town, he had the reinfrcement column decimated; an entire unit's worth of men were destroyed in the arcane ceremony, and the general in charge exiled to a greek town. within weeks the goths were near the town as well. the town, site of a famous battle between the goths and romans, was still remembered with dread by the romans, who lost 2/3 pf their men in battle in that fateful summer day in 378AD. the romans took ground, now reinforced by the empreror himself and 2 guard regiments, and waited for the onslot. this time, 4 of the 5 columns were opon them. in the predawn hours, the attacked. after firce and savage contest, frankly nothing more than a mass charge into one another's lines, the goths were routed, losing untold thousands of men in the rout, and 2 generals. some say a divine storm intervened and confused the goths; others, that the angels infused the troops with a barbarous, murderous rage, at the rememberance of the previous battle of Hadrianopolis. in either event, the gotths were scattered, and were chased by the victorius governoer into the danubian provinces haled by the west, nw too weak to stop either army.

    as they chased the goths from town to town, foreast after forest, the goths began to lose more and more men to the elements, to roman raiding parties, and to highwaymen. seeing that the latter threatened his troops as well, the governer ordered that a detachment of Illyrian troops attack them. over the course of that winter, through the summer, and into the next winter, now forever know as the blood winter, several battles were fought; goth vs roman, roman vs goth, goth vs highwaymen, and roman vs highway men; in one of the battles, a legion was routed and an eagle lost to the barbarian goths. so a detachment of 1100 romans, fresh from the greek cities, and with 4 guard units in tow, crossed the danube to reclaim an eagle lost from a legion in one of the battles. as they crossed, they were set upon in a forest by a horde of goths totalled 1500 men, many desperate to stop the roman incursion towards Campus Iazyges, whre the eagles were stored. the field, a flat area covered in forests, was a week's march from the danube, and was at the time going through a horrible blizzard. the battle opened with a violent exchange of javelins between the cavalry, followed by a desperate charge from the goths on the outstreched roman line. the line began to buckle, and the troops take horrific losses, which prompted the genral to hurl the herulja, wild infantry with a barbarous and heathen bloodlust into the frey, where they routed 2 units of elite goths, before being reduced to 2 men, of no use, and out of control. eventually, the guards managed, with near apocalyptic losses, to rout the goths off the field, and kill the leader of the gothic army. but it was at a heavy cost: 2 hours of combat had left the roman army at half strngth, while totally destroying the gothic army, reducing it to bands of 11 or 12 men, for a toal of perhaps 150 men. 2 of the guards regiments were reduced to a total combined strength of around 30 men, and so were merged togetther into a new regiment. they later marched on Iazeges itself, capturing it after a bloody assault that further depleted the roman army sent against he goths. the eagles, over which the violence ocured, were returned to young theodosius, who accepted them with honor. meanwhile the bloddied band of soldiers, now reduced to a total strength of around 300 men, marched back accross the danube, abandoning the city for the goths to reclaim.

    as for the empreror, a change in his personality was starting to happen, as a result of his participation at Adrianopolis; he renounced the pleasure palace, spending more and more time at the army camps and government buildings, and began in turn to plot and plan like a good ruler. he sent several letters to the distant governers of Egypt, Illyria, the danube, and greece to prepare a massive army, for they now had a new noble mission: to invade the western roman empire and to reclaim it. he would coordinate the war from the desk, while his best commanders did his bedding. he would soon prove just how good he was at the art of political intrigue...

    the first 7 years of the empire were shaky, dangerous, and incredibaly brutal, alredy a few dozen battles were fought, most in Europe, and against armies that outnumbered them. the ordeal cemented the reputation of many a man, and revealed the true strength of the eastern roman emprire. now it was time to project this strngth of the barbarian world.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


  8. #8

    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    This is getting interesting.

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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Quote Originally Posted by PSEUDO ROMANUS View Post
    This is getting interesting.
    you are about to find out why the empreror became known as "theodosius the cunning"
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


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    Gen.jamesWolfe's Avatar Vicarius
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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    unfortnately, you will all have to wait for chapter 3. that's right, i'll be sending the computer off for repairs

    I'll be using the computer of the family, where I may continue the AAR, but it will be hard.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


  11. #11

    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Damn!, I'm sorry for your computer, my friend. First SBH's and now yours, there must be an epidemy. I hope I'm not next! Take your time if time is needed.

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    Ramon Gonzales y Garcia's Avatar Nobleza y Valor
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    Default Re: The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    am moving this to the AAR's sub-forum
    Ramon Gonzales y Garcia

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  13. #13

    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    nice when is the rest coming up

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    Legio's Avatar EMPRESS OF ALL THINGS
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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Nice work, Ibrahim.

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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Quote Originally Posted by belisarius12 View Post
    nice when is the rest coming up
    right about.......now.

    sorry for the loooooooooooooooong delay. Alot has happened, and I've been damn busy. but here goes:

    Chapter 3: The East (417-430AD)

    As the Governer of Hatra regained strength and stored cash, the sassanids were preparing to mass upon the defenceless city; soon, in the year of the lord 421AD, in the hight of the winter, three sassanid armies, one after another, marched upon Hatra. By that time, the governer had raised two more legions, and three new cavalry squadrons. he had also prepared the siege train, so as to make it more mobile and accurate. his forces now totalled 950 men, and he set out to confront the three rmies, each with 1300 men, fully equipped, and with several squadrons of the Gyan Avspar, a dreaded and most barbarous force of cataphracts. soon, he had reached a point, about 30 miles to the southeast of Amida, and confronted the first army the sassanids had.
    the field was a flattish plain, but strewn with pebbles, and again, surrounded by hills and mountains. the two armies assembled in the afternoon, with the romans deploying in a very novel and unusual formation: the catapults, normally kept far to the rear, now opened fire on the savaran, rather than on enemy artillery, or infantry. this attack killed may savaran, who, unused to the form of attack, stood ground and tried to spread out. this worked against them, as their numbers squeezed them back into their tight formations, further adding to the carnage. soon, seven hundred savaran were dead or dying on the plains. At that moment, the romans charged forth, breaking the remaining lines after a short, but bloody exchange. the sassanids lost 950 men, while the romans lost 30.

    then the general turned south, and confronted a secnd sassanid army. but before he could offer a battle, he, under the orders of the empreror, sent a diplomat to the third army, asking for their defection. when he refused, the governer ambushed his army, and routed it in a humiliating manner. the surviving persian general then accepte terms and surrendered to us, and was appointed governer of Amida. to this day he resides ther with three sons and his wife.

    as for the third army, the governer had his men line up as he had near amida. by then, he had 700 men left, many having lift to defend amida, but now reinforced with artillery in greater quantity than before. The result was a horrific carnage, with 1100 sassanid casualties, for only 15 romans, most of the sassanid losses coming from the onagers, which tore through entire ranks of men and horse, and even sent the elephants the sassanids brought into a panic, killing more men. the sight, added to the evening light that prevailed at the battles end, gave an aura of an epocoliptic slaughter; one that wa unparallelled in the history of the sassanids. hitherto the sasssanids lost due to a siege or an ambush, or sheer misfortune, as at hatra, but now there was no way for the sassanids to offer an effective responce to the new tactics, especially the forming of the defensive square, instituted at this battle as an emergency measure, which was luckily unneeded.

    as for the sassanid commander, the empreror ordered a price on his head, and he was dispatched by an assassin's dagger, and his head brought back to the pleased empreror. soon, the emprero sent forward spies, diplomats, and assassins to attack the empire of persia from within. within a month, a ctiy fell by golden promises, and three lost governers to an assassin. as many as twelve captains were killed, though some say only eight were We were begining to near the city of Ctesiphon. by the end of 422, the cities of sassan's mesopotamian provinces began to fall apart, allbeit slowly.

    the year in the east cost a total of 500 casualties, and was the lowest full ampaign year we had on this theatre. there were only two minor riots, one in jerusalem, the oher in Ancyra, which was caused by the building of a pagan shrine in an otherwise christian city.

    @ moderator: when you move this, please enclose here a link to the forum, as I may lose this AAR if you don't.

    EDIT 2: next update on next weekend.
    Last edited by Gen.jamesWolfe; November 03, 2008 at 12:39 PM.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


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    Pliniux's Avatar Civis
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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Really interesting! Go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    WAITING FOR IBFD v. 8.0!

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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Well, any comments?

    figured pseudo would have a word..
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Chapter 4: Africa (422-430):

    We had last left the Governer of Egypt, He was preparing an army to head out to the west, under orders from the Empreror theodosius. By the time it was 420, the Governer had prepared five legions, three auxiliary infantry, five cavalry, and two archer regiments for battle. In total , the army totalled about 900 men, all well trained, fresh, and more than willing to fight; many were native Egyptian recruits, eager to prove their barvery in battle against the enemy.

    But who was the enemy? and what are the objectives? Only the governer knew of the true objectives of the mission. Many thought that they were to reinforce the eastern provinces, to garrison them, and to reinforce the embattled armies there. Others though that the objetive was to attack the Berbers, in order to clear the trade routes between us and our western counterparts. Some even thought that they were off to India, as a fleet was prepared at the eastern Egyptian coast.

    In any event, none of these rumors turned out true. For one thing, the fleet turned out to be an anti pirating fleet, to clear the Egyptian coast, not to sail to India. They realized they weren't out to fight berbers, as they were avoiding the area beyond the coast, a must in order to fight berbers. What finally told them the true objective was the fort being contructed in the eastern part of Cyrene, for the troops to esemble, completed in 421 AD. It became apparent overnight; We were to invade the western empire, and the invasion was to begin in the winter of 421 AD.

    The reasons the empreror decided on the invasion were manyfold; The western empire was on the verge of collapse; news had reached us that rome had fallen for the second time to the Visigoths. They were also siezing hold of the Provinces of Italy, which necessitated the removal of the North African garrisons. Another reason was to distract the restless Egyptian populace from the news in the East, which as I have mentioned was not very hopeful, though starting to improve. Most importantly, however, was the need for money; North Africa was the west's biggest provider of Money and grain. Since theywere not making good use of it, the Empreror figured that he might as well sieze it himself, and get the money and grain, as he was starting to run short on money. Even though the strong men, still ruling with the Empreror, had fixed the tax system, It was starting to show the strain of the wars in the east; the income of the emprire decresed from 20000 denarii per turn to only 5000 mnai, not enough to maintain the treasury, the Army, or the fortifacations being built on the frontiers for that matter.

    So, In the winetr of 421, the army set out to capture their first objective, Leptis Magna. Leptis wasa great city, having been provided for by Empreror Severus to become rich and proseperous. We soon ran into opposition from the minor Auxiliary forces, a few highwaymen, and worst of all, waves upon waives of berbers. First at Oea, then at the battle of leptis, our mighty forces reppelled the enmy, thugh with terriffic losses to ourselves. the battle of Oea is of particular note, as it marked the first time use of Dromedarii on a large scale, having been recruited from the neighboring friendly tribes. In all, the march cost us 300 troops, all without capturing our first objective. It also delayed the army; it wasn't until the winter of 423 that it was able to firmly build siegeworks arounf Leptis. Luckily however, Leptis didn't take long to fall; garrisoned by only 150 peasents, the city fell within 3 months. The soldiers let out their frustration killing three quarters of the inhabitants, and then venturing as far as utiqa, were they routed 300 remaining field armymen the west still had in Africa. By then, the army, weakened by starvation, hard marching, and bloody fighting, settled down to rest. It was the summer of 424 when the finally found tht the openeing shots of the war had alredy been fired in the spring of 422 AD, At the city of Dyrrhachium, by the western roman empire, who wanted the port-town. luckily, the city held out against attack. I will return to the siege at a later time.

    By the next summer, the army was ready to fight once more. they had been augmented by 200 lanciari, 100 archers, and siege weapons. 500 me, mostly limitanei, were raised to hold the town. The army divided into two parts, one to go by ship, the other by land. they were soon at the gates of Utiqa, which quickly threw its arms down, its 100 men surrendering, only to be executed. The naval army quickly landed in front of Carthage, and laid siege to it's 350 man garrison, the larget the westners had, mostly of peasants, but also with one comitatensis unit.

    Needless to say, after a 6 month siege and vicious street fighting, the army captured Carthge, putting its inhabitants to the sword, and hanging the African governer's head on the gate. At this, the two armies reconverged and marched on to Hippo regis in the summer of 426 AD, and capured it by use of ladders, after a short 5 month siege.

    Overall the campaign cost a little over 600 men dead and wounded, while cosing innumerable casualties to the berbers and western romans. we to this day still govern the north african provinces.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


  19. #19

    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Quote Originally Posted by Gen.jamesWolfe View Post
    figured pseudo would have a word..
    And PSEUDO has it . Sorry, man. I forgot you told me about the update. I just read it and enjoyed a lot. I feel like I'm reading a log made by a commander who is reporting his deeds to his superior, because you give details on the amount of troops involved and even the casualties. I like it. I hope there will be an update soon. I'd like to read on Theodosius' campaign in Europe .

  20. #20
    Gen.jamesWolfe's Avatar Vicarius
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    Default Re: [IB AAR] The trials and tribulations of the ERE, by Odaenathus Atiochus

    Allright, I'm back now, with the latest installement (I'm 4 days late, i know). anyways:

    Chapter 5: Illyrium, Pannonia, and the alpine provinces(422-433).

    As I have mentioned earlier, I promised to go into detail on the famous, and some say epic, siege of Dyrrhachium. Now, many westerners under our rule have wondered: how is it possible, that an army, as well prepared and numerous as that which attacked us at Dyrrhachium could possibly lose, and cost the empire so much in the long run? I say this: the army failed, not because of any failing on the part of the soldiers, but to treachery. I must also point out that the siege was indeed epic: epic stupidity on the part of the westerners.

    in the spring of 422, the western romans began sending their envoys and master spies to our empire. We know of the spies, as many were caught, or killed trying to fullfill their missions. at this, the governer of pannonia grew suspicious of what was occuring, and sent two generals to his quarters to assemble at Dyrrhachium. One of whom was named Asparus, a name not to be forgotton soon.

    but before the generals could reach us, the westerners struck. two armies came out of no where, each numbering 600 men. and unlike previous wars, they were not poor grade militia, but expierienced limitanei and comitatenses, backed by heavy cavalry, some say even cataphracts. one of them quickly laid siege to Dyrrhacium in the summer. the other headed to the field armies assembled for the defence of dyrrhachium, under the two generals. soon in a mountain pass not far from Dyrrhachium, the two armies met. but rather than fight, they just stood there and did nothing. both commanding generals met the enemy commander, and talked for a while. a long while. the talks stretched into the winter, much to the empreror's chagrine, and the horror of Dyrrhachium's governer. then the empreror took matters into his own hands. he sent his personal emissry to the enemy commander, and offered a deal with him. He would give us his army, and we will set him free. that way, the upcoming Eastern reinforcemnets, with guard cataphracts and guard infantry, wouldn't crush them. the reinforcements were indeed coming, but we were not planning on setting him free. after we bought and disbanded his army, the commander was found dead, having commited suicide with a slit throat by one of our guards, at his behest-at least that was the official version. his 100 soldiers still supporting him were chased around Illyria and massacred.

    the emessary than notified the besiegers of Dyrrhachium that 3000 men were coming, reading to crush his six hundred. at this, the commander bolted and fled. In reality, there were only a grand total of 460 men coming, including the 2 palatinae infantry, and 1 cataphract guard. with the garrison at Dyrrhachium, the total was only around 950 men. more humiliatingly for the fool, he had in fact capture twelve letters, telling him exactly that, and telling him that we were (and that is true), demoralized by the long wait for action, and verging on mutiny. all he had to do was put up an show of bravado, and Dyrrhacium would fall. It is the Epic blunder that earned the siege the epithet "epic". the reprocussions were disastrous: the older of the two commanders, along with a third army, which was in fact heading for pannonia (to relieve the unfortunate guards returning from their eagle capturing fiasco), made a detour straight to pannonia, to destroy the retreating western army. after a series of skirmishes, and five different sieges, much of Norther Illyria and pannonia fell by the winter of 423. this allowed us to finish the bloody work with the ostrogoths, while giving the depleted expedition a place to rest. as for the younger of the two "passers" as they were now called, the man named Asparus, he was summoned to Dyrrhachium. He was needed for a specific purpose. He arrived at the gates, expecting punishment for the pass incident, but rather, he was handed a message by the empreror himself, with a most momentous task: conquer Italia from the Visigoths. he was to be given 100 Illyrian cavalry, 100 Illyrian infantry, 3 legions (a total of 240 men,), 80 archers, the rest cavalry and numerii infantry, plus himself. the total amounted to 630 men, to attack starting from Tarentum. the Cataphracts were included as well in the support wave. he would later sail to Italia, and make history there.

    meanwhile at Pannonia, the commander of the forces there, and a strongman, had taken the recently victorious armys at the oprders of Theodosius, and attacked Rhaetia and Noricum; both fell within 2 years. He then halted, and sent the guards still with him back to contantinople, and began recruiting Auxiliaries from the local tribes. this continued for a while, until he did the unthinkable: he defected to the Westerners. He was not bribed, scolded, or mistreated into doing this, but just defected. No one knows to this day why he did it. luckily, the garrison remained loyal, and kicked him out. He remains a rebel to this day, but he has never been harrassed or attacked, nor has he attacked us.

    Luckily, the elder of the two passers took command; he quickly took the garrisons, retrained them, and turned the Auxilia into effective Limitanei. In the process, he drove off two waves of ostrogothi, one Burgundii, and scared the huns away just by the skill he displayed whipping the barbarians in place. he so rattled the barbarians in fact, that by 433, no barbarian, or even rebel brigand, dared to make so much as a step towards his position, causing them to scatter like dust. He resides there to this day.

    NEXT: Italia.
    I haz a culler!! (really, who gives a darn? its totally meaningless, and it doesn't really accurately reflect who I am)


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