And attempt a little more, an alliance, in both our interests.
They refuse us... we find their lack of faith disturbing... they shall pay for this insolence.
One does not simply walk into Roman lands and turn them down. The disgraced emissary dies a death more worthy of a deadbeat in the alleys of the Suburra than that of an official.
Meanwhile, in Anatolia, we reposition our armies to tackle likely trouble.
- Embedded Soundtrack, play while reading this episode.
Whats THIS? An AMBUSH? On one of of OWN ROADS? This cannot be allowed to stand. It is exactly this kind of banditry and treachery on roads and outdoors that leads to certain holy books to confine certain segments of society to within their homes. THIS IS THE ROMAN EMPIRE! HERE PEOPLE COME AND GO AS THEY PLEASE! Especially legates with important business in Aegyptus!
Captain Imru Al-Qais thinks it smart to attempt to detain a legate.
Yes, let us see what his legion thinks of that when they learn their beloved general was nearly kidnapped by a bunch of Arab tribals!
They didn't just choose any Legate, they chose the leader of not one, but THREE legions:
The Fectienses Seniores:
The Germaniciani Iuniores, and Legio Armenia Secundae (more like a pseudo-comitatenses legion, but a legion none the less!)
Oh, did I forget to mention the cataphractii? Yes, these desert dwellers will PAY for the insolence!
Nobody attacks a legate like this... and lives.
Battle begins.
They have some decent units.
But are mostly skirmishers and light infantry. Raiders.
Simplicity at its best. Long infantry line, charges, engages enemy, cataphracts engage from right, other cavalry from left. Enemy routs, we pursue, they die, we kill. End of.
The charge begins.
Our cataphracts battle their light cavalry...
And utterly destroy them.
Their left flank flees.
The enemy general meanwhile gets himself busy attacking one of our advancing cohorts.
However, our advancing meat grinder has mauled all in front of it except the odd pocket of resistance here and there.
Sooner or later, however, they break and flee.
And are hunted down.
Chieftain Al-Quais, however, is sneakier than he looks. By means of deceit and decoys... we pursue this barbarian, and kill him!
Only to find out the real Al-Quais is elsewhere and leaves the field unharmed... may the loss of his entire army make him think twice before he attacks Rome again!
Victory is sweet and well deserved! For the Gods endow those men worthy of it of their means of revenge!
Yes, that's right, run back to your huts and your caves, never again to bother us, you animals!
Aurelianus seems to have learnt a trick or two from this engagement, if anything, travel with an escort next time!
Aurelianus, however, is a vengeful spirit, we order a unit of exploratores to find out which city has sanctioned this attack, and offers them shelter. Petra, it seems, is the one we are looking for.
Aurelianus is too far away to do anything...
So we reinforce our nearby garrison with some ghassanid auxiliaries...
Petra will learn to stay out of Romes affairs. Once flourishing under our glorious rule, they now turn to banditry and raiding and pillaging to keep their weak city state alive. In fairness, Rome has no one to blame but herself for abandoning her and letting her fall to these wicked desert tribes. We will bring back this misguided lamb back into our flock.
The enemy garrison is mostly horsemen.
However, these Al-Wadai are extremely dangerous. Good in hand to hand combat and with a deadly charge, they could rout my entire general-less army.
But Rome is not averse to risk, and we send forth detachments of Legio 3 Decima Fretensis to take care of them.
And some Ghassanids to act as cannon fodder.
The idea is to draw them out. The Legio 3's cohorts, having better morale, are the first line, the second line are the skirmishers, the third the ghassanids, with the lower morale, to act as a reserve.
They decide to let us get as far as the street entrance, where we form a line.
The enemy first sends in their skirmishing cavalry.
Which smashes into our line.
They eventually rout, but its the next charge I am worried about.
The deadly Al-Wadai... they prepare for the charge.
And as feared, charge right into the middle of my line.
For some reason, my skirmishers seem unable to throw their javelins, and so I commit them to the fight also, afraid the first line might break.
The enemy commit their entire horse to the attack, and by now there is an ever increasing gap in my lines, being split into three different fronts where before there was only one.
- HOLD THE LINE SOLDIERS! HOLD THE LINE! shouts the captain, whilst firing arrows overhead into the enemies ranks.
-STAND FIRM!
These Al-Wadai, desert daemons, have lost half their number and yet continue to press us!
This is it, my line inst a line anymore, gaps are ready to be exploited, and my men are demoralised and mauled.
A single unit has managed to create a massive gaping hole in my line! It is a good thing there is little of the enemy left to exploit it, but I fear these Al-Wadai may carry the whole battle on their backs!
Yep, it is as I feared, and this is how it starts, a unit routs. My remaining units form a semicircle around the enemy, not out of choice, but out of overwhelming pressure from the enemies armoured horsemen.
With nothing left to do, the captain throws in his lot with that of his men and charges into the gray.
If we could just kill their captain, we could make those damned armoured bastards break.
Instead, another unit decides to call it a day, and quits too. This is going from bad to worse.
Like flies, the enemy warlord and his bodyguard simply mose around our lines, back and forth, in a spectacle that would be praiseworthy if it weren't so damn annoying! Die damn you!
We luckily manage to prevent the rout of our Legio 3's detachments.
And after much fighting, the Nabateans and their warlord fall back, but the Mundhir survives to defend the square, but the enemy has but a handful of men left.
We charge into the square...
And finally kill this dog!
Mundhir, after causing the Romans and their Ghassanid allies much headache and misery, has his left leg cleaved clean by a enraged optio of whats left of a Legio 3 cohort. The attack is fiendish and far too sophisticated for this simple desert dweller, which falls off his horse and is speared to death by the waiting Romans.
A victory hard fought, but let all those who defy Rome be taught a lesson, you will pay and die! Better to ally with us and reap the rewards!
The people of Petra pay the price for providing shelter for the enemies of Rome.
We make of these people our allies, and make of them foederati, allied soldiers sworn to fight for us.
And strangely enough, it seems an army has spawned to fight for us! (Honestly, I don't know how they got there, I think its related to the script, they seem to be Nabateans auxiliaries and Foedus troops, so I am guessing I got them for taking Petra. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can explain this to me. Still, the more troops, the merrier!)
And so came to an end the campaigns in Southern Arabia and Petra, began by the Nabateans, in their scheme to capture a Roman legate in his own lands. Now, made slaves, they fight and die under a Roman yoke.
Last edited by Knonfoda; April 04, 2013 at 08:54 AM.
In Germania Inferior, Marjorianus, Legate of the Cornuti and Brachiati legions, advances to relieve the Alemanni siege of Castra Macrina.
We brush aside the band of rebels, who having defected from the Alemanni, cannot make their minds up as to take our side or theirs. We will deal with them soon enough.
And so we engage Adalwolf, warlord of the leading Alemanni aristocracy. He does not seem to like Romans too much. Its a shame, as our spearpoints adore his kind!
He has a decent Gasinder bodyguard.
And very good, armoured troops.
And those BLOODY Knihte! Is there some sort of barbarian dial a Knihte hotline, delivered to your doorstep in one full moon our your money back guarantee out there? These horse-boys are everywhere! I swear by Jupiter I'm going to hunt that tribe down and destroy them wherever they are!
And axemen. Heavy axemen.
And berserkers! Excellent. This battle has all the ingredients for a major defeat, two legions, good enemy infantry AND horsemen. And a general. Lets see how this goes.
Battle is... erm... joined... yeah, battle begins. Or something. You know the drill.
We're going to hold our ground while the reinforcements get here. We have few front line units and so are going to try and shower their main units, eg the berserkers and hopefully the general too, before we engage. Our cavalry will harass the enemy where possible.
Macrinus arrives, with his Legion(s)
Their berserkers, filled with bloodlust as they are, advance ahead of their lines.
Too far ahead... we order all available missile units to shoot at them.
Meanwhile, I order my cavalry to engage one of their Knihte units.
The Wodawinga tribe (berserkers) having advanced too far, and attacked by all our skirmisher horsemen and archers, are whittled away.
My cavalry drives into theirs.
They hold their ground.
Little do I know however that IT IS A PLOY! They enemy warband flees with the arrival of Macrinus' legion(s)!
How is he ever going to explain this dishonorable disgrace to his family and followers? We order our skirmishers to harass their retreat and cut down as many as possible.
Their heavy cavalry finally break, allowing us to commit our own heavy cavalry to pursuing these cowards!
We cease harassing them and downright charge them, hoping to break their spirit.
They fight back, but their uphill rout and their demoralisation at having been ordered to fall back proves too much.
And one after another.... as they are attacked relentlessly....
They break in their hundreds....
The entire rearguard of the warband has routed. As each unit breaks we order the cavalry forward to harass the next band.
- Embedded Soundtrack, play while reading this episode.
Our cavalry overrun the overwhelmed enemy.
And crash right into the main body of the enemy.
The entire army takes to flight!
And they are all pursued and brought to justice... that is to say, they are dealt swift legionary justice, a spear to the back of the head.
Not bad, for what I thought was going to be a bloodbath. I'll take 120 dead for 1483 any day of the week. The siege of Castra Macrina is lifted.
We then deal with those indecisive rebels. They will pay the price for their LACK OF VISION!
And pay the price they do. Good, not a single roman deserves to die for this lot.
Following up our victory, we infiltrate the enemy capital of Vicus Alemanni, hoping to muster enough support and cause enough unrest so that the enemy population betray their masters. Sadly it does not come to pass.
This is the enemy high chieftain, an individual by the name of Suomar. In his entourage he seems to have a Roman traitor, a supporter of the previous Emperor Constantius no doubt, willing to see good Romans dead to avenge his own hurt pride. Traitors, they sicken me. He will die well once crucified!
We order our would be assassin to finish the job our cavalry did not manage, and order him to kill this cowardly chieftain!
But he fails. Again. I'm going to have a word with the headmaster of the spy Ludus in Augusta Treverorum.
From Italy, we send some Vigiles Urbani to act as a garrison to Castra Macrina.
In the far away lands of Sarmatia, we find the homeland of the Greuthingi Goths.
We also further reinforce Augusta Vindelicorum, which is likely to be besieged either by Vandals, Lombards or the Alemanni any minute now.
We decide to besiege Vicus Alemanni, in force, with two field armies, numbering between 3-5 Legions altogether, one supporting the next.
In Gaul, we detach a further legion from garrison duty to act as a mobile reserve, ready to be called into action when and where needed.
In the territory of our Frankish allies, we do a reshuffling our our garrison and limes troops.
Forming a large army of questionable loyalty, which will act as a second reserve. The frontier forts are now only manned by token garrisons, mostly franks and low quality limitanei auxiliaries.
In Africa, we consolidate our lime troops.
And shadow a large Berber army.
We reinforce large armies, and position them to attack the tribal warbands in our lands.
In Britannia, our Classis Britannica prepares to engage the Pictish fleet.
You're my praefectus for a reason! Show us what you're worth!
The enemy seem to have nothing special.
But they do outnumber us!
I suppose that will have to do. It is a sad day when the Roman navy can only just manage to defeat a vastly overwhelming number of barbarian ships. A sad day indeed.
We order our ships into port, we cannot afford to lose them, or Britannia will become isolated.
Meanwhile, in Illyria, there seems to be no one of worth or status left to pick up the pieces of the debacle of Planicus Dacicus.
That is, of course, until I find a man named Aetius Flavius, of good standing, very good loyalty and modest experience, whom in my ignorance, I mistook for THE AETIUS, of the 5th century, scourge of the Huns! I sent him forth to rebuilt and regroup the shattered armies of the Alpine and Joviani legions.
After regrouping the Alpine legions into two battle worthy cohorts, and mustering reinforcements far and wide from the area, in the form of limitanei, sagitarii and horsemen, I have formed an army, and positioned myself on the banks of the Danube, ready to stop the Quadi.
And so the two armies face each other... on the banks of the Danube. On one side, a Roman, and his 'legion', representing the light, knowledge, the pinnacle of empire and civilization... on the other, a Barbarian, powerful, bloodthirsty and relentless... the dark, evil and twisted backwardness of a hundred tribes, awaiting only the fall of an army to run wild and free....
Tonight, my friends, we wait and feast and enjoy life while we still can.... for tomorrow... tomorrow, gentlemen, we face, the QUADI HORDE, in a SHOWDOWN ON THE DANUBE!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Last edited by Knonfoda; April 04, 2013 at 09:20 AM.
OHH SNAP.... darn, i must be some kind of oracle... or just a good guesser
Indeed, you are truly a pagan seer, of the likes of the Oracle at Siwah or Delphi! Oh mighty oracle, what do you suggest we do next? Let it be known that Theus BlackusSmithus is now part of Great Julian's entourage, as special advisor in religious duties!
Originally Posted by ImperatorCaesar
I wish I could rep this man into infinity!!
Thanks man!
Originally Posted by The_Blacksmith
Imperator!! those alemanni stacks to the east can threaten your vengance on that roman traitor.... just saying
How is spain and the glorious mountains of iron and silver doing?
I reckon they will attack me during their turn but I think I *should* be able to repel them. I am more worried about the coming battle with the Quadi though.
Hispania is okay, there is one or two cities about to rebel, will post a screenie next update.
EDIT: OK, I fixed the weird spoiler issues I was having. The 'soundtrack' option is meant to be played in the background as music and listened to whilst the AAR is being read. I will either place it at the beggining or at crucial moments in the AAR, or at a place when certain crescendos coincide with say an important event. It is optional, but it does help convey the overall mood and 'feel' of the particular AAR episode, not to mention making it more dimensional, so to speak. Please let me know what you guys think of it.
you better crush the quadi asap like killing all their ground troops and leaving a small garrison in their capital behind as well as only one region since if you capture every of their region they will becoming a horde which is bad news for your overstretch army just bash them so badly that they will never stand up again as well as yearly raids to dimish their numbers in the west try to finish their main armies and leave them only one settlement behind just like quadi (also for the goths conquer dacia just like the awesome tarjan does centuries ago) and also after crushing an incoming revolt in britain attack the celts in the north they got 2 settlements in scotland as well as a settlement in ireland CAPTURE THEM ALL asap since they wil not from a HORDE if all their settlement captured as well as berbers so that your africa and british provinces are safe and secure so that you can divert troops against the forces of quadi, goths etc in the north
btw hows you religious "reform" going hope you don't have much disorder from your religious policies
war is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery......
(george orwell 1984)
Aetius Flavius moves to engage the horde of Chariomerus, taker of eagles!
And incredibly confident in his recent victory...
Aetius has absolutely no contingent against these beasts, which do not die, do not flee, but simply kill all in front of them... he has his doubts whether his second rate spearmen and limitanei troops will be able to hold them at bay.
There are only fifty of them this time... but they are experienced and emboldened by the thought of destroying another Roman army.
And don't get me started on these bastards....
On the other hand, all we have are sagitarii, a number of numerus (lol) and some limitanei armatus and Illyrian auxiliaries, to hold off the barbarian horde that professional legions failed to pin down in the field. This will be a bloody one. Aetius, pious as he is, offers a prayer to the Gods that they grant him victory this day. Should he fail, all of Illyria will be vulnerable, and her cities deprived of any soldiers to defend them.
In a clear but incredibly windy day, the last stand of a desperate empire, her army stands guard on the bridge on the Danube. With time tested formations, the idea is to lull the enemy across the bridge into a kill zone, and hopefully their high spirits should make this easy enough. It all depends who charges first, if either the Berserkers or the Garamantes do, we might as well fall back, their charge more akin to an onslaught and their hand to hand skills equal to none. The morale of our troops is questionable, but fight we must. And so it begins.
Captain Libus arrives with a unit of archers, welcome news.
Meanwhile, the enemy Argaragantes approach the bridge. This is the last thing we need.
As do their berserkers.
Chariomerus, watches with pleasure as his victorious army positions itself to sweep aside this token Roman resistance, the thoughts of crossing the Danube and striking at the empire entertaining his thoughts.
Before battle is joined, Aetius sees it fit to reassure his increasingly disconcerted and frightened troops:
- Men, we have little time! Today I speak straight to you not as the commander of the Illyrian troops but as a citizen of Salona and an Illyrian! You are all vigiles and limitanei and auxilia, born and raised in this land, with families in Carnutum, Aquincum, and Sirmium! We fight not for Rome today, that job was already botched by Terentilius and his legions. Today, we fight for our loved ones and our homes! Fight for them, in the knowledge you make their lives safe by defeating these marauding murderers and rapists!
- Fight for them, and the honour that should follow! Show the empire your worth, show that our kind, the so called second best, can prevail where the mighty Legions have failed! Fight for love, fight for honour, FIGHT FOR ILLYRIA!
Having said all he could to rally his men, Aetius mutters a quiet prayer to Mercury, his patron God.
With no such Pious thoughts in their minds, the enemy begin their onslaught.
Our men brace themselves for the incoming battering they are about to receive.
Aetius moves closer to his lines, hoping to reassure their men so as not to break before the battle even begins!
On our right flank, our archers are under heavy fire, we order them to fall further back.
The tribe of the Slavs are the first to make the crossing, daring souls that they are.
Our waiting troops dare to shoot their javelins at them.
This does not stop them however, and they charge into the fray!
The entire enemy army joins their comrades, hoping to break our line through sheer numbers.
Even these fearful creatures battle their way through.
On our left flank, a numerus of Illyrians takes the brunt of the enemy missiles, however, they are there to do exactly that, protect the vulnerable side of the remnants of the Alpine legion holding the bridge.
Thankfully, they don't break as I really expected them to.
Our main lines are having difficulty in holding back the horde, we order the second line to re-position themselves to intercept any possible breakthrough.
And the third line too just in case.
The battle is fierce, a large number of the survivors of the Alpine legion breaking ranks and fighting in hand to hand, eager to destroy the enemy responsible for the death of so many of their comrades.
The enemy commit its reserves.
And Chariomerus, satisfied that our lines have been sufficiently softened up, joins the battle himself!
- Embedded soundtrack, play in the background while reading the AAR!
Heavy wind makes way to rain, and the heavens open up above us as a storm begins to form.
What began as a pleasant shower now turns into a torrential downpour and our armies struggle to hold their ground and the enemy push us back further and further.
What I feared comes to pass, the enemy through brute force alone creates a gap in our defences. Hundreds of wild barbarians pour through the breach...
Our first line broken, the second line prepares itself. I order the cavalry to stand firm behind the second line and spear any barbarian fortunate enough to make it through. The rain is now more akin to a downpour, and thunder rumbles overhead as lightning strikes at the very earth!
All our lines committed the Quadi relentlessly assault and batter our shields and our horsemen. Above, the heavens fall down upon us in a massive deluge. Thunder momentarily silences the din of battle! The very banks of the Danube begins to rise!
Suddenly, a deafening sound of rolling water can be heard as both sides witness a gigantic wall of water making its way across the Danube, its wake filled with debris and the bodies of the dead. At some point to the west a flash-flood must have poured into the river, causing a huge wave to form from one bank to the next!
Spotting this, Aetius orders his men to fall back higher up the bank!
Chariomarus follows suit as his army desperately tries to run to either way of the bridge and avoid the incoming wall of water!
However, its too late! The wave smashes through the bridge taking with it everything in its wake! The enemy warlord, weighed down by the weight of his armour, shares the fate of his retinue as they all sink down to the murky depths of the Danube!
Thousands are washed away by the unrelenting tides!
As the wave subsides, the scale of the destruction becomes apparent. The entire enemy army has been literally swept away!
The battlefield is suddenly silent. Where before stood thousands of Quadi warriors, eager for the taste of Roman bloody, now stands nothing, the waters of the river black and dashing against the shores. Aetius is stunned, never before has he paid testament to such an occurrence.
Shocked and bewildered soldiers cautiously and carefully examine the site of what was previously a battlefield.... one of them cries out 'Mercurius Invictus!'
It is then that it dawns on Aetius....
- Soldiers! Men, Brothers! Witness the POWER OF MERCURY! Once again the God has seen fit to aid us, in our most desperate moment of need! Our prayers have NOT GONE UNANSWERED! You have seen with your very eyes how the mighty God SWEPT AWAY the enemy for daring to fall upon Rome and its eagles! This is nothing short of DIVINE INTERVENTION! The Quadi have ONCE AGAIN been vanquished by the same GOD on the SAME RIVER! Put your hearts and your faiths with this God, and victory will always be ours! VICTORY IS OURS TODAY!
Victory by divine intervention. It would seem the Gods were indeed listening to Aetius' prayers. The entire enemy warband and its leader Chariomerus, destroyed to a man. OH HOW THE GODS ARE MIGHTY! OH HOW THE GODS ARE WRATHFUL!
The Battle of Gorsium, and all those who fought in it, became the stuff of legend throughout the empire. Like Legio 12 Fulminata and the 'Miracle of the Rain' on the Danube, some 190 years before, the God Mercury was once again said to have come down from the heavens and destroyed the enemy through a catastrophic flood. The same enemy, the Quadi, twice now vanquished by divine intervention.
The site became a local attraction, thousands flocking the Bridge of Mercury to pay homage to the deity and making offerings into the Danube. The mostly Christian army that fought there under the pagan Aetius is said to have converted en-mass to paganism, and those already Pagans are said to have made Mercury their patron deity.
Julian, pious to the last, had a monument erected outside Corinth to symbolise the victory over the Quadi, the column said to Rival even Marcus Aurelius' and his depiction of the 'miracle of the rain' during his own Marcommani Wars.
Thus, through unlikely circumstances and divine favour, the armies of Aetius Flavius proved superior to those of the Quadi and their leader Chariomerus. The Showdown on the Danube over, the Roman Empire temporarily secure, eyes move onto other borders... to the gentle sloping fields of Gaul.... and the thick impenetrable forests of Germania.
Last edited by Knonfoda; April 04, 2013 at 09:18 AM.
WHAT!!! you win by fighting across with a bridge again....... you are not man enough to fight on FLAT ground but stragetically you choose the right terrian but strange i didn' see this before like the river getting to the bridge and killing everyone on the bridge sooo strange........
war is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery......
(george orwell 1984)
Thats probably one of the most forthcoming replies I've seen in a while.
Yes, I fought on a bridge. Yes, I slaughtered them all. Yes, I was legitimately taken aback by how much it rained and thought I could make use of that strange fact by using it to help explain my victory, after all, it DID happen before in real life, and I thought it seemed more plausible and realistic than simply saying the enemy army, and by extension the AI, were so dumb to walk straight into a trap and get destroyed by the thousands. It would have been another boring bridge battle were it not for said divine intervention.
Now that I look at it, and the feedback, it seems it was just indeed a boring bridge battle.
you are not MANLY enough to take the challenge grrrrrrrrr and roar like a man and charge as crazy as a babarian and crush the quadi grrrrrrrrrr. (with tactics and common sense of course)
p.s that bridge battle is boring........... and seems to be too easy without a challenge grrrrrrrr
Last edited by The excited one; June 02, 2011 at 03:26 AM.
war is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery......
(george orwell 1984)
OK I got the point the first time, but thanks for your feedback, you are after all, if memory serves me right, elevated to a position of trust within my empire, and advisor somewhere.
OK I got the point the first time, but thanks for your feedback, you are after all, if memory serves me right, elevated to a position of trust within my empire, and advisor somewhere.
New ground rule: No more bridge battles.
advisor? i m honoured to be one but put me in big cities and help you govern your empire stregetically. I hate to engage in battles (i m not a good at battles you need tactical advisor )
p.s good this is a COOL ground rule then and you can be MAN enough to engage then......... grrrrrr and my the transcendent one guide you in your victories through some freak weather in the middle of the battle as well as luck in your engagement
war is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery......
(george orwell 1984)
The capture of Petra has had some interesting consequences:
I now have this Ghassanid army roaming around, which is good.
With a cohort of Al-Wadai! After having seen what they did in Petra, I look forward to seeing them in action on my side.
It would seem Petra's 400 inhabitants are set on revolting. I don't see how this is militarily possible but they do not seem to care what I think.
I grow weary of the Arab raiders and warbands that casually amass on my borders and order them destroyed for the glory of the empire!
Aurelianus scouts ahead, finds their camp, and engages them!
They have the same tribes as always, archers, skirmisher cavalry, some medium cavalry and cohort of medium infantry.
Captain Germanus is kind enough to arrive in time with the bulk of the army, a number of legions and a lot of cavalry, which will come in handy.
The enemy cavalry, perhaps thinking that Aurelianus is alone, rush to intercept him.
We order a sensible retreat to a more defensible position closer to our fast approaching army.
With all our units in the field, we order our massed cavalry, cataphracts, archers, skirmishers and scutarii to the left flank to attack the enemy right flank, also cavalry.
Meanwhile, our infantry lines form and prepare to advance on the enemy at length.
Our cavalry charge!
The Promoti's spears make contact with the enemy first.
And they are quick to rout.
Their entire right wing takes to flight.
Our cavalry, in pursuit of the remnants of their right flank, have gone so far into their lines as to come in contact with their second army!
The eager bastards decide to engage them too!
The enemy general sits and watches, not quite sure what to do with the advancing legion in front of him, his right flank gone, and enemy cavalry running wild and free about his lines.
Our cavalry, being dispersed in all manner of directions, are attacked en mass by the cavalry of the second enemy army. STAND FAST!
If its a cavalry fight they want so be it! Regroup!
The enemy general decides to join in on the action.
- CHAARGE!
The fight lasts a couple of minutes.
But sooner or later the enemy general realises he is going to lose.
A lot of foresight, this one has.
Chieftain Hanri al-Djarar, once respected warrior of the Nabatean people, is charged full on from behind by a cohort of cataphracts. Having fallen from his bewildered horse on to the ground, the last thing Hanri seems is a cataphract vault over the charge only for one of its legs and by extension its hoof, to land right on his head. The weight is too much and crushes the temple. Say goodnight to the folks gracie.
Meanwhile, our legion is in full advance while the enemy, in contrast, is in full retreat.
The surviving general warlord attempts to buy time and charges one of out advancing infantry cohorts.
Our cavalry have all but destroyed the enemy right, not the flank, that went a long time ago, but the whole right of the Nabateans two armies has gone.
We position our cavalry for what will probably be the last charge.
While our infantry continues its relentless advance and pens the enemy in between them and our massing cavalry.
- DESTROY THEM! Standard Bearer, WITH ME!
The attack all but annihilates whats left of the enemy.
Warlord Salama, seeing all is lost, attempts to flee.
But a legionary, disgruntled at seeing the warlord he was just exchanging blows with a second ago attempt to flee, brings his disgrace to an end with a well aimed javelin It pierces Salama's neck, who makes a satisfying gurgling noise as blood flows freely into his windpipe, and falls dead on his horse.
Our cataphracts have a right to be proud today, as it was mostly a cavalry battle.
The infantry examine the field of battle, the carnage wrought on by the horsemen clear in front of them.
These tribals need trouble us no longer.
Aurelianus rejoins his victorious army. The Limes Arabicus, with the fall of Petra and the incoming siege of whatever cities these Nabateans have left, is secured once more.
It occurred to me I haven't yet shown Julian's family line. As we can all see, its pretty small and erm, futureless. Especially as Julian has the rather annoying 'barren' trait.
Our finances are also not doing too well, set to dip even further in the next coming months. With nothing left to do, we pray to the Gods and trust the next coming months to them. (This is to say, the end turn button is pressed)
Tune in soon to see what I expect will be a lot of action on the Rhine!
Last edited by Knonfoda; April 04, 2013 at 09:25 AM.
How many legions (full legions) do you have in total and what's their respective emplacement?
do you intend to stay true to the historical boundaries of the roman empire or shall we see the imperial standard fly in the scandinavian landscapes?
edit:
what about this track for your next epic battle?
Last edited by Luxchamp; June 02, 2011 at 07:24 AM.
"Siehst du in des Waldes Grün feindlicher Gewehrmaschin?"
- Peronje
"Der NKWD in Russland, der SD im Deutschland des Dritten Reiches und alle anderen Geheimpolizeiorganisationen ähnlicher Art sind Spielwiesen für Psychopathen, für Usurpatoren illegaler Macht über Millionen.
Dort liegen die Krebsherde der modernen Gesellschaft."
aus "Holt Hartmann vom Himmel" Motorbuch Verlag Spezial 2007
Re: [IB:SAI AAR] Julian, the savior of Rome?
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Originally Posted by Knonfoda
AWESOME
