Hello all. I am going to attempt to write a Saba AAR using XGM 5.8.25. I am playing with land bridges on, AI Bonuses off, two hit points, faster movement, fatigue on, and VH/VH. I have never played a Saba campaign before, so this will be a learning experience for me. Heck, I might even lose the campaign. I will be role playing as the youngest son of the original Faction Leader. His name is Far'am of Saba. He is 21 at the beginning of the game and I plan to take this AAR all the way to his death, hopefully at a ripe old age. The only circumstance in which I will reload a saved game after losing a battle is if Far'am dies at too young an age. If he loses a battle, that is acceptable, he just needs to survive. I will update as often as I can, but considering I have a full time job, a wife, and other interests, it will not be too frequently. I have already played the first ten or so turns and a post will be up soon. I hope you all enjoy.
I am Far'am of Saba, third son of King Sufyan of Saba, grandson of Mu'dan of Saba. My people have lived on these desert sands for generations, sticking to the coast, thriving on the trade of myrrh and frankincense. Furthermore, we have developed links between the east and west, creating shipping lanes and caravans to move goods at a healthy profit. The King, my father, follows a policy that advances trade, brings in great wealth, and avoids conflict with other nations. He fails to see what I see, that the world changes around us, that the Arabian sands cannot keep us safe forever. To the north the kingdoms of Ptolemy and Seleucus wage war, when valor and fate have chosen a victor, will they be content with what they have? No! The sight of their avaricious eyes reaches far. The Seleucids already encroach upon our long established trade with the peoples of the Indus and beyond. What is to stop them from going further? I urge my father to strike first, to rally our people and win eternal glory. But my council falls on deaf ears. My father is old, and though I love him dearly, he is complacent, soft, and weak. Further complicating matters is my eldest brother, Hannad. He is the Crown Prince, and in every respect a young facsimile of our father. When he becomes king, nothing will change. We will hide away in our little corner of the world, accumulating riches, hoping to go unnoticed until one day our riches are taken and we are crushed by the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, the Nubians, barbarians.... I will not let that happen. I will be the next king no matter the cost. I will lead the people of Saba to glory and power beyond their imagining. My name will resonate through the ages.
While my father and brothers focus on economic development, I have constantly pressured them to give me command of our country's army. My requests have been repeatedly dismissed, but the economic condition of our kingdom quickly improves....
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Praise the Gods! My requests were finally granted in the summer of this year. My father has finally relented to my constant pleading and has given me control of an armed force. I am tasked with keeping our countryside free of brigands and rebels. But, to accomplish this goal I am given two lousy cohorts of Sparabara. Two regiments of Sparabara to defend our kingdom!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
However, our scouts report mauraders preying upon the caravans entering and leaving our lands to the north. While their reports are based on truth, I line their pockets with gold, telling them to exagerate, to whip our people into a fearful frenzy. They are successful, not only the people, but even King Sufyan is inspired with great dread. I urge action, and my council is taken - the first time, but not the last. My meager forces are greatly augmented, I am given four cohorts of Desert Axemen, two cohorts of Sabian Archers, one of Bedoin Camels, and two of Light Desert Calvary! Even better, my youngest sister, Sameh, has recently been married, and her husband, Marwan, is a brave young man, eager to take the field with me!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Ever cautious, my father orders me to clear the roads of mauraders, but to go no further. I have no intention to follow his orders, a fact which I make plain to my men as soon as we set foot in enemy territory. The craven enemy withdraw before us, and we lay siege to their town, Carna. I know that I have brazenly ignored my father's orders. I know that I will face unspeakable punishment if I fail to take this settlement. But if I succeed our people will be shower me with adulation. They have never known the glory that comes with conquest. I shall give that to them for the first time, and they will love me for it. How could my father punish me then?
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
I decide to split the army in two. I shall attack from the South while Marwan strikes from the east. We will catch our numerically inferior foe in a pincer within their own city!
The mauraders die fighting in the street, courageous to the last.
Victory is ours, but it does not come without substantial casualties. These men of Carna fought as though possesed by devils!
After great consideration I decide to annex Carna without inflicting any further cruelties on the population. It does no good to rule a devastated husk of a town. Besides, their culture is very similar to our own, and they take to Sabaean rule with narry a murmer. Within days my couriers have spread the news throughout Sabaean territory. Reports come back to me that the people are jubilant. Yet I hear nothing from my father.... I await his reaction with great fear.
Weeks pass, and still nothing. Then one day the royal courier rides into Carna proclaiming loudly, "Royal scouts have reported that a murderous band roams through the east of Sabaean territory, pillaging at will. King Sufyan requests that his son, General Far'am, march to meet them with his army immediately!" The words strike me, "General Far'am," "his army". It would seem that my fear has been for nothing, my father supports me. The courier dismounts and rushes up with an official document, sealed with my fathers insignia. Within it is a copy of architectural plans that fill my heart with joy. My father plans to build a proper military establishment! One befitting the greatness of our people!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Last edited by AchillesXX; August 29, 2009 at 02:24 AM.
Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. I have played quite a bit more and will have another post up soon - hopefully before the weekend is out. I play with small units because my laptop is weak and old. Almost time for it to join the great laptop heap in the sky . I looked at a nice new Sony today with 6 gigs of DDR3, dedicated graphics card, and some new fancy processor. Now if I only had money....
Our diplomats have traveled far and wide over the last several years, as have our spies. Many of the portents I warned my father, family, and people about have come to pass. Our diplomat meets with hostility at the hands of people who should be our friends and our spy reports enemies encroaching ever closer to our soil.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
First our alliance with the Unified Easter Kingdoms fell apart for no apparent reason.
Then the Ptolemys refused our very reasonable offer to exchange map information.
Our generous offers are met with derision by even the most meager people, the Galatians.
And even our supposed Seleucid allies refuse us.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Our supposed allies, the Seleucids encroach upon Arabian soil. While technically not under our control, there has previously been an informal acceptance that our interests extend to this area.
Worse still, one time friends openly encroach upon our territory. Their intentions could not be more clear.
But not all the news our diplomats bring us is bad. At a time when we seem to be pariahs, the noble peoples of Armenia reach out to us in peace. This will not be forgotten.
My army marched to our capital Mariaba post haste. We were met with great fanfare as we marched through the city gates. I was warmly, yet sternly greeted by my father.
"For your service to our nation, I am grateful. However, do not let your recent success in war lead you to believe you will always be successful. I have spent all the years of my life trying to keep our people out of foreign conflicts because I know how fickle fortune can be. You too will do well to remember that. You will also do well not to disobey my commands again. Do not test my will. Now, there are rebels in the east of our territory, within a days march of Tamna. I want you and your men to rest, to resupply, and to crush them. Make our countryside safe, but do not proceed further. Your brother Hannad is to meet up with you outside of Tamna and assist you with this task."
I assured my father that I would heed his advice, knowing that I wouldn't. My men and I gave way to the festivities that the people held for us. Within a weeks time we set out, headed east. I knew I would break my work to my father before I had even given it. Subdue a few rebels, then return home! Preposterous! Why? The rebels will be back again in a blink of the eye. I need to strike at the source. I will continue marching east with my armies until all the peoples of Arabia are brought under our banner. I will conquer with such speed that my father will be unable to catch and stop me. Perhaps I am a dishonest man, a wicked man, but I don't think so. I am simply a practical man. And as a pracitcal man I know that my brother Hannad, the Crown Prince, will not allow me to break my word to my father. So, I simply bypass his city and continue east without him, much to his great anger.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Newly provisioned, our army sets out east.
Still new to warfare, I am always careful when making an attack. I approach the rebels with care, and ascertain that their force is about 2/3 the size of my own. Still, if I am to continue blaze an eastward trail I cannot afford casualties. I know that new men and provisions will not be forthcoming from the capitol - unless they are coming to stop me! All that in mind I strive to inspire my men. I cheer them on, and I devise a new battle order that I assure them will bring us victory. On top of that, Mu'di, my father's middle child and my older brother has been won over to my cause. Me joins us fresh off the boat from Ethiopa. This news fills my men with hope for the future. It fills me with hope too. If Mu'di can be brought agree with my argument, perhaps also can the rest of the Sabaean royal family.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
I set out my forces with the archers in the center of my main line, flanked by infantry on either side. To each end I place a contingent of calvary - light calvary to the right, my brother and I to the left. I do this because I anticipate the enemy will try and flank me, and I want to keep my archers safe for the trials that lie ahead.
The plan works better than I anticipate! Instead of attempting to flank us the enemy infantry head straign for my archers. The archers are too quick for them! They withdraw, and the enemy find themselves encircled by our infantry! Within moments they realized their error. Attempting to flee they are cut down as they run. (Note: Archers will be denoted with a blue circle, clavary with a red circle, and infantry in green. Enemies will be shown in yellow boxes.)
The enemy are totally crushed, with minimal friendly loses! We are taken away with happiness and celebrate our victory and the memory of our departed friends long into the night.
Still, we cannot aford to rest long, we must press on quickly if my plan is to succeed. We reach the rebel town of Sabata so quickly that half of their force is caught off guard, outside the city walls. We immediately begin to create siege works, hoping to make short work of the remaining defenders. However, this is not meant to be, as the force outside the town makes a valiant effort to join forces with the beseiged.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The enemy army is almost completey composed of Bedouin Camel archers. We have little time to plan, but Mu'di and I decide that our best course of action is to take up a defensive position on a low nearby hill. We place our infantry at intervals, forming a protective semi circle around our ranged soldiers, who will do most of the killing.
Although we take too many casualties, in my estimation, we are successful and kill so many of the enemy that we are able to take the town without any further bloodshed. (Note: I experienced a CTD after this, but was able to reboot the game and had control of Sabata.)
I fear that defying my father's wishes for the second time will not be tolerated. I hear reports that the Sabaean people are ecstatic at my success, but my eldest brother fumes. He grows angry that his brother, 14 years his junior, upstages him. My father's true thoughts are not reported. It is however said that Hannad has set out by sea, trying desperately to reach me and stop my progress. I secretly fear that his authority as Crown Prince will overcome my men's love for me, and that they will be won over by his arguments.
Mu'di and I hold council together, and we decide that I must set out at once if I am to escape from my brother's wrath. I take about 2/3 of our army, and head northeast, hellbent to reach and conquer the village of Ubar before my brother can stop me. Mu'di stays behind to settle afairs in our recently acquired territory, pledging to join me as soon as possible.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
My army marches hard, and they are exhausted as we reach the outskirts of Ubar. I reinforce my men with a new group of mercenaries. But still, I need time. I call one of my most trusted slaves, a Babylonian eunuch named Babystros, into my tent and tell him what he is to do - travel to the coast, and inform the first group of privateers he can find about my brother's voyage. He travels lightly, with few soldiers, but plenty of gold. They will get the idea. But, on pain of death, he is never to speak of this mission to anyone.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
But my brother fights as a true Sabaean prince. Though outnumbered he and his men make a valiant stand, and are victorious. I may not agree with him, I may not love him, I may not even like him, but his victory here is to be commended. Though no one can say it with any certainty, my culpability is whispered about far and wide. Some even claim that my morality is lacking, that my version of the truth is "flexible."
death to the romans: playing as saba with larger unit settings is much harder though. I'm playing a campaign as them now on huge unit size and my towns couldn't grow fast enough in the beginning to support the troops I needed. Which means less of an army for the inevitable seleucid war, I hadn't even moved into ethopia yet by the time they started invading me because of my army/economic difficulties. But I do agree, smaller unit size makes battles less awesome.
Insatiable as the flame, I burn, and consume myself.
The Fury of the Desert Wind - A Saba AAR
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. I looked at a nice new Sony today with 6 gigs of DDR3, dedicated graphics card, and some new fancy processor. Now if I only had money.... 
