[IB:SAI AAR] Julian, The Savior Of Rome? [ FINAL UPDATE 13/06/2013 | COMPLETE ]

**Knonfoda** · May 19, 2011, 01:54 PM

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Julian, The Savior Of Rome?

- With thanks to Joar and courtesy of Ken Broeders -

This is the story of a man. A man who died at the edge of the world, alone with his dream. A man whose journey began long, long ago... and whose destiny it was to rule the Roman world and usher a torn and failing empire into a new era of glory and prosperity. Cruel as the fates are however, with its twists and turns, this never came to pass. Remembered mostly for his obstinate and forlorn battle against the rising religion of Christianity, our hero passed away in a dusty plain in the Mesopotamian desert, after only two years in power, at the young age of 31, leading one of the biggest Roman armies ever to march into Sassanian lands. It did not have to be this way, however. From the dawn of time, ever since men began to dream and wonder, we have been haunted by those two most terrible words... what if?

That man's name was Flavius Claudius Julianus. And this is his story.

(Be sure to watch in HD quality)

This began as quite a shameless rip-off of Decimus Milo's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. He is quite simply my hero, and I love his campaign. Unfortunately, it seems he has chosen not to finish it, which is a shame. I have played and finished RTW BI before, but I did this much differently than Decimus Milo’s did in his campaign, and I hope this is reflected in this AAR. Over time, however, this aar has grown into something quite epic in scale and spanning a great deal of time, over two years since it was started in 2011. The style of writing also went through changes and becomes much more involved mid-way through towards the later chapters, and a fully fledged narrative begins to form around Julian and his cadre of companions, loved ones and enemies. While story and dialogue form an indispensable element of the aar, the focus very much remains on the pictures and screenshots which help form the narrative, of which this aar has over 30,000.

The IBSAI mod depicts a much more historically accurate and, in my opinion, challenging campaign than vanilla BI, which is the reason I have chosen it. It begins with Emperor Julian, known as "The Apostate" for reneging on his Christian upbringing and education and trying to re-establish paganism, about to embark on his expedition against the Sassanid Empire. Historically, he went, he saw, he did a little bit of conquering, but had to retreat, only to be fatally wounded by a Saracen infantryman in Sassanid service in a minor skirmish. So died Julian the Apostate. The game mechanics of RTW however do not allow me to embark on this expedition, at least not at the beginning, as every single border I have is attacked by any number of different factions. This not being the case historically, and not something an emperor would do - embark on a long and costly expedition while his empire is attacked by hordes and hordes of barbarians - I am thus forced to do thing differently. Therefore, these swine need to be dealt with first before my beloved Julian can embark on any eastern promise.

I will act in a way which I believe mirrors that of the Roman Empire at the time. However, obviously by trying to alter its decline I shall attempt to re-write history. But I will do this by trying to act 'historically' so to speak, ie not attacking nonsensical targets, doing a campaign at a time, etc. I will indeed attempt to re-instate paganism as the mainstream religion, as my in-game character, Julian, is mistrustful of monotheistic religions, not to mention very conservative and backwards looking, full of nostalgia of the past glory of Rome, and full of plans on how to bring that glory back. And so it will be.

As for the difficulty, while I love a challenge and played BI on VH/VH, I have been advised by people of authority that this mod is already balanced and realistic on the settings I have chosen, and that anything above severely unbalances the game to the point of extreme unrealism and even causing a few bugs. This is also my first AAR, feedback and constructive criticism will be very welcome.

With this said, let the carnage begin.

Mod: Invasio Barbarorum Somnium Apostatae Iuliani.
Faction: Imperium Romanum Julianorum.
Difficulty: Campaign – Hard, Battles – Medium.
Goals: To rekindle the glory of Rome, or perish in the attempt.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Disclaimer: What follows in the SPOILERS tags are indeed that, spoilers. So if you want merely to acquaint yourself with the characters, opening the next line of spoiler tags is fine, but the second line reveals the current state of the characters, along with plot lines and events which risk spoiling your reading. Do so only if you are up to date with the AAR. You have been warned!

Main Characters

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- Julianus Flavius (Faction Leader)

Also known as: Julian The Apostate, Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus, Imperator, Caesar, Augustus.

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- Nevitta (Faction Heir)

Also known as: Of The Eagles, The Pagan Hammer, The Slayer Of Fariel, Caesar, Divus.

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- Aetius Flavius (Faction Heir)

Also known as: The Bringer of Rain, Quaddicus, Servant of Mercurius, Caesar.

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- Heraclianus

Also known as: The Horseman, Bane of the Huns.

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- Aurelianus

Also known as: The Attacker, Arabicus, Imperator

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- Sigisvultus

Also known as: Germanicus II, Caesar,

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Secondary Characters:

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- Crispus Hemina

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- Fullofaudes Carvilius

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- Crispus Macrinus

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- Ulfilas Dardanus

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- Attalus Cocceianus

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- Tiberius Hortensius

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- Salutius Secundus

Also know as: The Most Excellent Salutius

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- Ammianus Marcellinus

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- Dagalaifus

Also known as: The Infantryman, The Profane

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- Laurentius Pictor

Also known as: Dux, Comes Domesticorum

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- Anatolius

Also known as: Antonius

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- Jovianus

Also known as: Jovian, Jovinus

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- Mamertinus

Also known as: Claudius Mamertinus

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- Procopius Flavius

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- Locutus of Borgaia and Palpatinus Flavius Sidious

Also known as: The Antichrist, Agentes in Rebus, Those That Bring Order To Chaos

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- Julius Terentilius

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- Julius Athenaeus

Also known as: Knofoda

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- Antiochus Menenius

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- Aradius Rufinus

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- Arcadius Flavius

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- Zeno Vettus

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- Maximus Terentilius

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- Agilo Hortensius

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- Ulpius Mariscianus

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- Promotus Vettus

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- Maximus Philo

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- Opius

Also known as: Of The Eagles

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- Servius Elagabalus

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- Valens Flavius

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- Valentinianus Flavius

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- Hormisdas

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- Hormisdas II

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- Shapur II

Also known as: Shabur, Shahenshah,

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Ancillary Characters:

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- Oribasius

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- Libanius

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- Maximus Of Ephesus

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- Priscus of Epirus

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- Hypatia

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- Helena

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- Julia

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- Nectaridius Flavius Augustus

Also known as: Caesar

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**Knonfoda** · May 19, 2011, 04:41 PM

Episode I: The Undoing of an Empire

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The year is 1114 ab urbe condita. (361 A.D) Julian the Apostate has just ‘inherited’ the empire, avoiding yet another bloody civil war against Constantius, his co-ruler, who in his death at least recognised Julian as his rightful heir. Still, the butcher put to the sword many of Julian’s family, and while this was decades ago, it is a slight that shall not soon be forgotten. While the ‘Alexander’ syndrome is indeed present in Julian, the east shall have to wait. The empire, if it can be called that, is in tatters. Corruption is rampant, disloyalty everywhere, our finances are in ruin, the barbarians are at the gates and in some cases within the empire itself, and religious strife poisons everything. Julian has his hands full if he is to restore the empire back to its former glory. But restore it we SHALL!

Please note: EPISODE I shall be quite heavy on the text and screenies because there is, as you shall see, a lot of ‘housekeeping’ to do. Once this is out of the way I hope to shorten future episodes.

And so it begins:

Paganism remains the world largest faith, but monotheism spreads like wildfire. With our superior knowledge of aqueducts, this fire shall be put out soon enough.

The dog Constantius had the good sense to leave me his half of the empire. How kind, and with it, all its problems too.

This wretched bunch of heavens were but the first to fall against Julian, before the civil war, before this mod takes place. May many others join them.

Italy, as it is in the 4th century, poor, unhappy, violent, and backwards. We cannot allow this.

Worse still, Iberia, proud supporter of the late Constantius, doubts Julius’ ability to lead. We shall repay them in the same manner Julius’ family was repaid by Constantius, with steel and blood.

This is Julian, the great emperor, ready to embark on his eastern expedition.

And this is part of our eastern army, one we inherited from Constantius. They shall serve us well, especially in quelling the likely rebellions in the area.

Of note is this Gothic allied/auxiliary/mercenary army we have also inherited. Their allegiance, and their fate, remains to be seen.

The situation on our borders could not be worse. In Britannia, a horde of Saxons has landed, ready for rape, pillage and plunder.

On the Rhine, the franks stand ready to carry all before them, one of their armies having already penetrated roman defences.

In lower Germania, cities stand threatened by the Alemmani, never giving up despite having fought and lost numerous conflicts with Rome.

And on the Danube, the Quadi, Lombards and Vandals wait for the right moment to strike our defenceless forts. Vandals, we shall put their name to the test.

However, Sirmium shall not be easy to conquer, being guarded by two imperial legions.

Only north of Constantinople, the Gothic and Visigothic hordes lie ready to fall upon our walls and ditches in their thousands, meriting a postponement of Julian’s eastern expedition, and hopefully he shall not bear the fate of Valens, who historically died in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths in 378 A.D.

Near Tingis, a large rebel army made up of slaves, tribals and the dispossessed, sits by idly next to a roman fort.

More worrying is the Berber warlord, poised against a limitanei fort with little hopes of stopping him should he attack.

Rebels are everywhere. Within our borders...

Beside our major cities...

Rome, 361 A.D. This is the ROMAN empire, not the Ravenan Empire, not the HOLY roman empire, which was neither HOLY nor ROMAN, but the ROMAN empire. As thus, Rome is re-made capital of the united empire, never to change again.

The financial outlook does not look good, -24.000 denari in less than 4 months. We will have to resort to extraordinary measures, with Jupiter’s help, and resolve this extraordinary situation.

We begin by disbanding our liburnians, pirates may arise, but they are the lesser of two evils at this day and age.

We save all but two fleets, in the Black Sea and in Britannia, where we send them to intercept a pict fleet.

It is indeed a shame that praefecti like these should find themselves out of service, but hopefully they can find jobs in our land armies.

We begin a process of change. We replace disloyal generals from high ranking positions, remove garrisons of cities on the verge of rebellion, and reinforce those we can still hold. Tingi, having a large number of garrison buildings and being well supplied, must not be allowed to fall, lest Mauretania become vulnerable to the Berber tribesmen.

We hire units which shall make all the difference during crucial battles, such as these cataphracts.

Gaul, ravaged by barbarians in past years, we begin repais in all major cities, in Gaul and elsewhere in the Empire.

With the little money we have left, we order our governors to begin empire wide economic and trade orientated measures, such as the building of roads, mansiones, ports, and other plans.

For now, this shall do. I am to attack a Quadi horde before they attack me, on my own terms, if possible. We shall see in the next episode.

**ImperatorCaesar** · May 19, 2011, 05:09 PM

Interesting start!

Subbed.

**Knonfoda** · May 19, 2011, 05:53 PM

Episode II: The Quadi Incursions

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Not wishing to waste time waiting for the Quadi to attack us, one of the imperial armies stationed near Sirmium, the Legio Comitatenses Tertia Iulia Alpina, attacks an isolated Quadi army by the banks of the Danube.

We are somehow, ‘ambushed’, but their pathetic attempt fails, surely a taste of things to come.

The elite comitatenses are ordered to form a 3 sided formation by the foot of the wooden bridge, with milites and limitanei as a second line, and skirmishers as a third, peppering the enemy from behind. Cavalry is stationed behind, ready to charge into gaps in the line.

The Quadi, not interested in our trap, have to be lured in by the faint of skirmishers.

Our line is formed, and the enemy follows...

The hail of missiles from six units of archers from three different directions proves too much for the enemy, who rout almost immediately.

The Quadi are truly brave though, or foolish, for even in panic stricken retreat they advance towards our lines, creating a mighty hole in our lines which their braver comrades may seek to exploit.

Our cavalry are there however for exactly such a purpose, and charge forth into the gap in the line.

The Quadi take the hint, and flee in the opposite direction, the mass of men forcing their comrades to either flee or topple from the bridge.

The Quadi sarmatians archers cover their pathetic retreat, but soon they too leave the field of battle.

Captain Malorix, as clumsy as he was stupid, falls in battle. Our cavalry picks off some stragglers, ending their inglorious shame through honourable death.

Victory is ours, 2283 men less the Quadi can afford to throw at our defences.

With little left to do, and no money left, we let the Gods decide the coming months.

And lo and behold, we are attacked by another horde of unwashed savages, eager to avenge the defeat of their kinsmen in the previous battle.

Though we have reinforcements, this battle worries us for two things, their chosen axemen, huge beasts to a man who can hack their way through more civilised folk...

And their golden bands, chosen men, accompanying kings and lower nobility, heavily armoured and a match for our own comitatenses.

Our legion falls into place with our trusty ‘bridge defense against countless dirty barbarians on foot’ formation.

The enemy responds with a novel and unanticipated tactic, the ‘bridge attack special flying squad dirty barbarians ON HORSE formation’.

Caught completely unprepared for such an aggressive and innovative act, our first and second lines promptly gives up. Luckily, this is what third lines are for, and we order our six units of sagitarii to rain flying death on our enemies.

Flying death rains on our enemies, and the Golden Band takes to flight and disbands, hopefully for good.

Things must really be desperate on the other side of the Danube, perhaps from these huns and vandals we hear of, as once again the enemy retreats into roman territory, right towards our shield wall of bristling spear points.

Trickle turns to flood, and the entire Quadi army flees towards us, once again exploiting a ‘create a hole in your line tactic’ that would be brilliant were it not so useless.

We oblige and trample them underfoot with our cavalry, while arrows fly overhead finding their mark.

The enemy is slowly ground into something more useful through our war machine, their bodies pilling the bridgehead and turning the river red with their inhuman blood.

Slowly, but surely, they do what barbarians do best, and die in their hundreds.

Captain Othelhidis, unable to cope with the sudden thrust of a spear into his abdomen, promptly ceases to exist and drops dead.

Roman cavalry clears the bridge, and hunt down those Quadi that hesitate to follow their captain’s example.

Victory is ours once more. It is shameful that 236 good Romans had to die to teach these people the Roman Empire is very much alive and well.

On other fronts, news is not so good. On hearing of the ascension of 23 year old Julian, cities rebel. Especially those still loyal to Constantius’ supporters in Iberia.

Financially, we are well and truly in the red. Perfect timing for some rape, pillage and plunder. And to that we shall give the name of Empire.

The Quadi, giving up on Sirmium, try to fight their way to Aquincum instead. Too bad the way is protected and another Imperial army sent to deal with them.

The IBSAI campaign begins in earnest...

We may be poor, but we are large....

And strong!

Our spies discover the extent of the rebel army in Egypt. Their large numbers of cavalry, in particular Noble cavalry, shall prove a tough nut to crack when an imperial army eventually reaches them.

In Britannia, our fist act is to rename the title Count of the Saxon shore to count of the ROMAN shore. We will soon demonstrate why these fools have no claim on our lands!

Tune in on the next episode, to see such as claim, PUT TO THE TEST!

**SavageFeat** · May 20, 2011, 03:32 AM

size the pictures smaller plz

**SeniorBatavianHorse** · May 20, 2011, 04:28 AM

Interesting! Will look forward to further updates!

**Knonfoda** · May 20, 2011, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by savage feat

size the pictures smaller plz

Sorry, I tried twice with my upload program but for some reason it didn't work, only like 1 or 2 pics were resized the size I wanted them.

I'll try again on the next update.

**Vercingetorix King of Gauls** · May 20, 2011, 07:36 AM

This is FANTASTIC! Rep for you

**ImperatorCaesar** · May 20, 2011, 11:44 AM

Great update!

**Knonfoda** · May 20, 2011, 02:31 PM

Right, I have been told by the powers above that, in my mortal foolishness, I am running a totally outdated and not as pretty version of the game. On top of that, my image converting program, Spesoft, has decided, on a whim, to just stop working, just like that. Yes thats how it is. Brilliant, but temperamental I'm afraid.

As such, I am afraid it will be several days if not a week before the next update is due, as I have to reinstall IBSAI 1.0, patch it, then find a suitable image converting software, (anybody know of any?) I have an exam in 4 days and THEN I have to fight all those pesky battles. Again. C'est la vie, no?

oh, who am I kidding. I'll probably have another update tonight, albeit with a different version.

EDIT: Also, where are my manners. Thanks for all the good feeback.

**SeniorBatavianHorse** · May 20, 2011, 02:57 PM

I did wonder on why you were using the old beta SAI?! I use FRAPS for ingame pics and then upload to photobucket after editing them either in MS Paint or online in photobucket itself. I am sure others use a different procedure which is just as effective. Good luck with the exams, by the way!

**Knonfoda** · May 20, 2011, 03:49 PM

I use FRAPS too but if I had to use paint to individually edit 30+ pictures it would take forever. Thankfully I have fgound another program, Vicky's Cool Softwares ImRe 2.1 that literally does it in seconds. I then upload them with ImageShack and from there write the story around it.

Thanks, this should the last exam EVER, as its my fourth and last year at university.

**Knonfoda** · May 20, 2011, 04:28 PM

A long time ago, in an updated and patched v. 1.0 galaxy....

Episode III: The Empire, Reloaded

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic (read Roman Empire)
As we all know and have seen, the barbarians are everywhere,
threatening the integrity of the empire, with civil strife rife in all
four corners of the empire.

Not much has changed in this parallel universe, except for a few
minor things which we shall deal with below. If you have followed
this AAR this far, you know I have remade Rome the capital of the
empire, that I have called off Julian’s expedition to the east against
the dreaded Sassanids (for now) and that I have hired a few crucial
units for the coming battles, repaired decaying buildings, destroyed
those temples of the followers of monotheism, and ordered governors
to commence financially orientated programsm such as road and ports.

However, many things are new. Some new units are with us, such as
the classiarii, (marines) there is a Hadrian’s Wall, and the graphics look
amazing! Will Julian be as successful in this campaign as he destined
to be in the last one? Only time will tell...

We cut to the chase, and as promised:

An actual Hadrian’s Wall! Impressive IB team, most impressive. Shame it can’t be garrisoned.

Also, in line with history, the Franks are now our allies, foedus, living in Roman lands but pledged to protect it. However, as I am well aware of this game and its notorious AI diplomacy, we shall see how long this lasts.

We also have pretty stone forts now! Also more historically accurate! It’s a shame they are still the same old wooden forts on the battle map though.

I build a couple of watch towers on the Limes Mauretanius, to keep an eye on those Berber tribes.

This version of the game also has drastically larger movement points, being six turns per year. I always wondered why vanilla RTW had such weird movement points, it taking months to move a few miles when it would only take days or weeks IRL. I take advantage of this and attack that army of Saxons, which ironically, was where I left off on the other version.

This time I have MARINES though! YEAH! ROCK THEIR WORLD! Nothing better than ROMAN marines.

They have Saxonatas, their family member and best unit. I laugh at their feeble skills.

And so, battle is joined.

They have the high ground, so we position our forces in a way as to wrest control of it from them, large line, cavalry on the flanks.

I extend my line in front of them on more favourable terrain,

With my cavalry massed on high ground, ready to fall on the enemy.

The enemy tribal chieftain watches in awe as he realises Britannia isn't the easy and undefended land advertised on the Saxon travel agency.

The MARINES charge forth into gore and glory and grandeur!

With my line formed, all that waits to be done is....

CHARGE! My cavalry falls on the enemy light infantry like greek’s at a symposium; drunk with lust and thirst for knowledge (well, maybe not) and honour and booty!

My line charges forth and, being much larger than the enemies, engulfs them. My other cavalry wing, stationed behind the enemy, charges also.

Lesser warriors, who make up a large proportion of the Saxons, flee in horror at the butchery.

However, against all the odds and surrounded on all sides, pockets of enemy resistance form, such as these admittedly well armoured spearmen.

And the warlord himself, who refuses to acknowledge defeat and call it a day. His stubbornness would be admirable were it not so damn annoying.

This is of course, nothing a good massed charge can’t take care of.

The unwashed savage takes the hint and flees for his life, the smell of death around him masking the voiding of his bowels.

And so dies tribal chief Aiolfus of the Saxons, trampled underfoot by better men (and horses)

What’s left of the enemy attempts to flee....

Only to be brought down by dozens of hurled verutas, lancea and other sharp pointy things.

As promised, this is why Saxons have never and shall never have a claim on Roman land. The man responsible for creating the title of ‘Count of the Saxon Shore’ is erased from the histories, his memory ‘damnatio memoria’ for allowing such a travesty to occur in the fist place.

To the north, we sent a scout unit of Praeventores to do what Praeventores do best, scout.

They do their job well, far too well actually. Should any survive they shall be rewarded for their extraordinary scouting skills.

In Gaul, loyal generals are rewarded with better positions, while disloyal ones set to less distinguished tasks.

Ustus Hortensius is rewarded with the prestigious position of Magister pedites et equites Galiam, master of foot and mounted soldiers in Gaul. May he put his title to good use and bring much honour to the HOUSE OF HORTENSIATUS!

As I know all too well the mechanics of this game, I station said legion on the border to see what happens. (I know the Franks will betray me, but playing ‘historically’, I will not move any of the units in those forts as a gesture of ‘trust and goodwill’ between allies. However, the moment they betray me, the might of Rome shall fall upon them!

In lower Germany, we decide to take the initiative, relieve un disloyal general of his duties, and send his army to attack an Alemani settlement. We hope to infiltrate it and attack it this turn, as this would give us a boost in cash before the dreaded shortfall of tens of thousands hits us, allowing us to build more roads and such.

The gamble pays off. A spy infiltrates the settlement, allowing us to take in the next two months (read this turn) before the enemy falls upon us (read during the AI’s turn) We siege it, and find a suitable commander.

Gaius Macrinus, an otherwise undistinguished commander, simple tribune of a small limitanei fort, is rewarded for his loyalty however. Let all know that in THIS roman empire loyalty does not go unrewarded, nor does disloyalty go unpunished! The siege begins!

Tune in next time for The Siege of Chnodomar!

**SeniorBatavianHorse** · May 20, 2011, 05:33 PM

Great update! I have stone forts in my game on the battle map as well as the strat map though. I wonder why you don't?

**The excited one** · May 21, 2011, 01:13 AM

Originally Posted by Knonfoda

A long time ago, in an updated and patched v. 1.0 galaxy....

Episode III: The Empire, reloaded

Turmoil has engulfed the Roman Republic (Read Empire)

As we all know, and have seen, barbarians are everywhere,

threatening the integrity of the empire, with civil strife

rife in all four corners of the empire. Not much has changed

in this parallel universe, except for a few minor things

which we shall deal with below. If you have followed

this AAR this far, you know I have remade Rome

the capital of the empire, that I have called off

Julian’s expedition to the east against the

Sassanids (for now) and that I have hired a few

crucial units, repaired decaying buildings, and

ordered financially orientated programs (as roads and such)

However, many things are new. Some new units are with us,

there is a Hadrian’s Wall, and the graphics look amazing!

Will Julian be as successful in this campaign

as he was *just about* in the last one?

This off course, remains to be seen....

We cut to the chase, and as promised:

!

errr excuse me Knonfoda one thing to remember try to have a unified religion like making every city into paganism (since julian is pagan) and destory every religious buildings other than paganism (quick cash) to unified the empire under a single religion not diverse which produces public disorder. There might be some risk involved in this since the regions that recently changed regions will revolt but you can send troops and exterminate the revolting settlements to get even more quick cash that how i start my game

**Vercingetorix King of Gauls** · May 21, 2011, 03:41 AM

Just great!

**Knonfoda** · May 21, 2011, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by The excited one

errr excuse me Knonfoda one thing to remember try to have a unified religion like making every city into paganism (since julian is pagan) and destory every religious buildings other than paganism (quick cash) to unified the empire under a single religion not diverse which produces public disorder. There might be some risk involved in this since the regions that recently changed regions will revolt but you can send troops and exterminate the revolting settlements to get even more quick cash that how i start my game

Thats the plan, if you read the prologue, you will see that I indeed will try and unify it under paganism, I forgot to include screenshots. But there are certain cities which I cannot afford to have revolt, because they have quite high level barracks (which I would have to destroy before the revolt) that would take years to rebuild, which I need to train and retrain my forces.

EDIT: Actually, I was going to leave certain cities to change the religion slowly and gradually, but having looked at some, eg Rome and Constantinople, there really is much money to be made, eg the temple of the apostles, which is worth like 8 grand right there. Thus let it be known in future history that on the advice of Theus Excitidus Onus, and out of his own initiative, Julian has torn asunder Christian temples in Rome, Constantinople and other great cities.

Given my love (and Julian's) for collegial style of leadership, much like the early roman principate, (and its golden age) I will take onboard any suggestions, ideas and proposals that anyone on this board may have. And let the Roman Empire flourish once more!

**Knonfoda** · May 21, 2011, 10:47 AM

Episode IIII: The Siege of Chnodomar

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

It is apparently the case that the Alemani chieftain is not too fond of Romans. We shall see what his grandsons think of that when they are basking in Roman glory, eating good roman food, reciting Virgil while relaxing at the baths.

They have some decent units, such as these axemen.

We have many archers though, and our intention will be to rain death from above on them.

The siege begins, the die is cast.

In order to lure the enemy into concentrating his forces in a single line so our 7 units of sagitarii can kill them from a distance, we present our forces on only one front.

The enemy, wise in the ways of what is hidden, does not fall for the bait.

Perhaps storming their undefended gate will get their attention.

We take the gate, and form a shield wall on either side, with enough space for reinforcements to positions themselves between the two and shower the enemy with javelins.

The plan works, but we are forced to engage early with our own axemen before the shield wall is ready. Once this is the case, we order them to fall back to the hollow safety of the formation.

The plan comes to fruitition. The enemy rushes our shield wall in large numbers, and we shower them with pointy death with all our archers, while positioning our cavalry nearby to further their suffering with their own javelins.

The enemy line breaks, and their futile attempt costs them 15% of their entire force.

The enemy flee, but are brought down to a man through our superior knowledge of archery warfare.

This is the best time to send off our second army around to one of their poorly defended gates, now that our first army has already secured a foothold in the city.

We charge at their cavalry.

Meanwhile, they give another go at attacking out army already in the city.

But they fail miserably....

And are charged down by our cavalry.

The second army, having routed the enemy cavalry and formed a similar formation opposite the gate, are charged by the feared enemy axemen. However, the two units of archers sent with them greets them with obliging iron arrowheads.

The enemy, humbled once more by roman metallurgy, is wiped out to a man before ever reaching the safety of the square.

This seems like a most propitious moment to send off our third army to attack the next gate.

Yet more Alemani tribals come out of the woodwork to attack our first army, by the first gate.

We brace for the impact, every wave taking with them 10 or 15 good soldiers.

In a move of tactical brilliance, the enemy charge our second line simultaneously.

Which is fortunate, because they get to retreat simultaneously also.

Our third army prepares itself to storm the third gate.

We form our standard ‘take the earth from beneath the enemies feet’ formation, our standard shield wall, but all hades breaks loose.

The one time I do not monitor him, my general, good and brave and foolish Gaius Macrinus, so overcome with joy and confidence having been elevated from a mere second rate limitanei tribune to the position of legate of an entire legion, enthusiastically throws away his life in the pursuit of demoralized foe, only to wander too far into the enemies ranks and be cut down. This slight shall not soon be forgotten. That is, if our exhausted army does not rout.

At this point the battle turns into a bloodbath, the enemy charges out second army with heavy cavalry.

Our third army faces a gruelling duel by their gate.

Our fist army, having repelled all attempts by the enemy to retake the gate, moves further into the city, only to come against fresh enemy axemen. There is a missing screenshot, but needless to say they carve through our line before breaking as they are charged by cataphracti from behind.

Ah, here's that screenshot I was referring to.

The third army finally routs their foe, and eagerly pursues.

Our first army, having routed the axemen, penetrate deeper into the city, only to face a charge of fresh heavy cnite cavalrymen, which cause a disproportionate number of losses to our spearmen. Once again we order the cataphracti in.

And from absolute victory...

They are reduced to more befitting retreat.

The enemies cavalry is relentless. Our second army, having just lost their general, is about to be overcome through sheer force of numbers and the weight of the enemy’s horse. These shall make useful auxiliaries should we win this battle.

With nothing left to do and nothing to lose, we storm the enemy’s square from the only two sides we can.

And having overwhelmed the square defenders, charge into the rear of the enemy’s cavalry and bodyguard unit, not a moment too soon, as they have already routed a unit of archers committed to the desperate fight.

The enemies chieftain ponders about his lot in life, he remembers his beloved Adela, love of his life, safely behind the walls of the capital.... he whispers her name....

But is cut down by men with baser thoughts about the prospect of incoming victory and the rapine that will follow, his soft words never reaching the ears of his loved one as he slumps to the ground and that most unforgiving of mists descends upon his eyes.

Victory is ours, but at the cost of a good (and loyal) general, a rarity these days. We went from an excellent kill ratio at the begging to a slugging match at the end. Hopefully better days lie ahead.

For their insolence, their arrogance, their daring in taking the life of a Roman general, (but also because we need the money) we put the town to the torch and the people to the sword.

Gaius Macrinus, loyal servant of the empire, is dead. Bereft of life, he rests in peace. May the Gods bless his immortal soul. But just in case THEY are not listening, we do so anyways.

We honour him and his name, by renaming the settlement he took, Chrnodomar....

To a more appropriate CASTRA MACRINA! Im memorium of the great Gaius Macrinus, who gave his life to take the settlement and add to the glory of rome! May the funeral games we shall hold in the city with the enemy captives pay tribute and honour his great name! Long live the emperor!

Interestingly, our recently deceased' replacement, bears the strange fortune of a double coincidence, he is also named Macrinus, and he is also from an otherwise low position. May the destinies hold better fortunes for him than his forebear.

And so came to an end the Siege of Castra Macrina, then known as Chrnodomar.

**The excited one** · May 22, 2011, 02:29 AM

keep the updates coming mate i m eager for this

p.s by the way did you convert all the settlements to paganism in one go or do it gradually

i always do it in one go to make rapid progress of conversion (even though revolts will be larger)

**Knonfoda** · May 22, 2011, 09:26 AM

As you will see, I've done it in all cities where I can afford to either take the discontent hit or lose the city. So yeah, its been an empire wide crackdown.

Episode V: The Persecutions Begin

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

We attempt a ceasefire with the Burgundii, one less host to deal with, but alas, to no avail.

Near Constantinople, we replace the Gothic contingent's commander with Salutius Secundus, perhaps the most loyal man in the empire, and send the army forth into Thrace, amid reports of a large force of Goths beyond the Danube.

Julian is sent to the Aegean, by ship to quickly quell any rebellions that should take place.

And it seems major cities such as Corinth and Pergamun, not to mention all the island cities, are intend on doing exactly that, challenging the authority of the rightful emperor and hoping the sea will compensate for the lack of any walled defences.

In the East, a major reshuffling beggins, as loyalty is indeed a rare commodity these days.

We give those titles that are appropriate for disloyal generals, and send them to the cities, where their corruption can do less harm and to be dealt with at a latter date.

A trade right agreement is reached with the Sassanids, which will hopefully honour our current ceasefire, to the benefit of both states.

Julian, desperately in need of money, favouring the advice of Theus Excitidius Onus, and also seeking to suppress monotheistic religions, begins an empire wide crackdown of the religious places of worship of the Christians and Jews.

Beginning in Rome with the catacombs...

And the Cathedral....

And the Jewish temple.

Carthage sees their cathedral pulled to the ground and its treasures confiscated.

As do other cities, such as Seldae....

And Nova Carthago....

In the east, in the bosphorus, we abandon the city of Heraclea-Chersonesus, indefensible, rioting, with a openly disloyal commander, and sure to fall to the steppe peoples. We advise them to tend to their own defenses, when we shall return at a later date to reinstate Roman authority.

And as much as I hate destroying unique buildings, the Church of the Holy Apostles is a testament to the misguidedness of Constantine, for allowing Christianity to become the mainstream religion, in renaming Byzantion in his own honour, and building this temple in the first place. It comes down, all of it, and all of its 7200 denarii worth of gold, silver and other relics taken by the state.

In antiocheia, Antiocheia's Octogonal Cathedral also comes down....

As does it Arian church.

The citizens do not even seem that discontent. Oh how the masses are fickle!

At Aelia Capitolina, the Basilica Sancti Sepulchri is also torn down. There are so many things wrong with this temple I do not have time to list them all and still run an empire. I will begin at the beginning. It worships a single God. Bad enough. Secondly, its not even positioned correctly:

It's buidings of worship are not even built on the hallowed ground they purport to be, and as Julian knows, no beast is as harmful to man as Christians to each other, and believe it or not this Church has been the cause and location of much infighting between Christian sects. This mindless and petiless violence cannot be allowed to continue. The church falls.

Throughout the empire, with all the money we have collected from the crackdown, a cool 27000+ or so, we reinvest into Tabernae-Diversoriae, (Road side Inns) which improve the conditions and trade ability of our roads, ports, mines (where possible) and other necessary infrastructure. We are left with a measly 690 denarii.

And for all those that say we are an Empire of slavery and archaic male-dominated gender relations, we bring 'development' to our newly conquered territory, and emancipation and jobs for the female citizens of the city! We promptly build a prostibulum in the city.

Tune in next time for 'Operations on the Danube: The Quadi Threat, Over Before it Started?

Thread: [IB:SAI AAR] Julian, The Savior Of Rome? [ FINAL UPDATE 13/06/2013 | COMPLETE ]

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[IB:SAI AAR] Julian, The Savior Of Rome? [ FINAL UPDATE 13/06/2013 | COMPLETE ]

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