Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

  1. #1

    Default [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    The Pride of Massilia
    A RTW Extended Cultures AAR
    Difficulty- M/M
    Disclaimer: I've been playing RTW for a few years now but only a few days ago downloaded extended cultures (great mod, btw) so I'm sorry if I suck. Yeah.



    Chapter 1
    Thersandros of Massilia looked out the window of his villa to the waning light of the day. It was summer and he was the proud ruler of Massilia, a small and independent Hellenistic colony on the pearly white southern shores of Gaul. Gaul was full of the uncivilized, and Thersandros knew that. He often dreamed of conquering and spreading his civilized values on to the untamed lands of the north. The problem was, though, that he lacked an army. Massilia was the farthest you could get from a military power. Massilia’s real strength lied in its vast trading fleet, which helped bring Massilia to great wealth. Thersandros’ father had recently passed away, so Thersandros took power. His father would not have been happy with him as Thersandros spend much of Massilia’s wealth recruiting a massive army. Now Massilia’s vaults, which once were stuffed full, were running dry, and the city’s economy was beginning to circle the drain.
    However, Thersandros new that conquest would bring back the riches of Massilia while continuing to expand her power across Gaul and even the rest of the Mediterranean! So Thersandros had the skilled general Adeimathos (who happened to be Thersandros' son and successor to the throne) lead an army to conquer the nearby Gallic town of Tolosa. There was a medium sized force garrisoned when Adeimathos laid siege.
    Before they left, however, Thersandros gave them a speech. He ended it in quite the morale-boosting fashion.
    “Soldiers, as you leave us here today, remember this: Our lands are not vast and mighty, but our hearts are bigger than all. Carry the pride of Massilia on with you in your journey ahead.” The soldiers cheered and Thersandros retire back in his villa.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    While this was going on, Thersandros had Hippias of Dion, a diplomat for the city-state of Massilia, go and seek out trade rights with the rising Roman Republic. Unsurprisingly, he succeeded. Thersandros had heard stories of Rome and quite liked what he heard, though he knew they would prove troublesome in the grand scheme of things.
    After laying siege for a while, Adeimathos attacked.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    He sent up some light barbarian infantry to ram down the gates with the battering ram the army built.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    They quickly accomplished this and proceeded to flood into Tolosa and engage the troops inside.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    After a long battle at the gates, the barbarian mercenaries were accompanied by some levy hoplites to finish of this battle in the town square. Some Gallic spearmen and a mounted general’s bodyguard met them.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    It was a long and grueling battle that resulted in many casualties, but the day was won and Tolosa was under Massilia’s control.
    A courier rushed into Thersandros’ chamber, carrying news of the Greek victory.
    “Sire, our brave soldiers have won the day! What shall become of the settlement and its people?”
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    “Good, good,” Thersandros said, pacing up and down. “Enslave most of the citizens of Tolosa and disperse them throughout our territories.”
    The courier left in a hurry.
    A week later, a scout in the countryside spotted a large Celtic army approaching Massilia from the direction of Italy. A mere five days later, it laid siege to the great city.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    __________________________________________________________________________________
    hey, you made it this far? Wow! Thanks for reading and please leave me some feedback
    Last edited by caesar100; June 28, 2012 at 07:42 AM.

  2. #2
    McScottish's Avatar The Scribbling Scotsman
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    The Crannog
    Posts
    2,911

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    This sucks! Of course, I'm kidding. I like it, and Massalia is always an interesting faction to play. Here, take some rep and I hope to see more.

  3. #3

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    You took up quite a challenge Caesar. Good luck to you.


  4. #4

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    Oh interesting. It's an incredibly hard campaign, so if you aren't used to XC, I can see you failing in your first attempt.

    No shame in that, will make for an excellent AAR.

    I look forward to it. Do XC proud (its one of the hardest mods out there).

  5. #5

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    Quote Originally Posted by Apollyon View Post
    Oh interesting. It's an incredibly hard campaign, so if you aren't used to XC, I can see you failing in your first attempt.

    No shame in that, will make for an excellent AAR.

    I look forward to it. Do XC proud (its one of the hardest mods out there).
    Just out of curiosity, what have i done wrong so far? I've played a few of the other independent GCS campaigns (Pergamon, Syracuse) to have figured out a way to get out of the economic trouble (disband one or two crappy units, capture settlement). Then it's just a matter of growing.

    Also, to everyone, is there any particular direction you want me to go with this AAR? Attack a certain faction, capture a certain region?

  6. #6

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    Quote Originally Posted by caesar100 View Post
    Just out of curiosity, what have i done wrong so far? I've played a few of the other independent GCS campaigns (Pergamon, Syracuse) to have figured out a way to get out of the economic trouble (disband one or two crappy units, capture settlement). Then it's just a matter of growing.

    Also, to everyone, is there any particular direction you want me to go with this AAR? Attack a certain faction, capture a certain region?
    The Massilia campaign is a particularly difficult campaign. Taking Tolosa is a good start, but it isn't a very wealthy city. It won't sort out your economy anytime soon.

    The Greek city south of Tolosa would be the best next bet (if you have the troops left to take it. If not, you'll have to disband units).

    All the best!

  7. #7

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    Chapter 2

    Thersandros couldn’t sleep. The Celts had been sieging the city for a few months, and Thersandros was losing sleep over iT. He was just walking the streets, alone, not knowing when they would attack. He knew the grain stores couldn’t last forever.
    Thersandros walked up into one of the towers on the wall. He looked out and saw the Celtic camp, fires ablaze.
    “Oh gods…” Thersandros said. He saw that they’d constructed a siege tower. “I didn’t know they knew how to do that! Maybe they’ve hired a Roman engineer…” he muttered to himself.
    The next day, after Thersandros finally went to sleep, scouts on the walls reported that the siege engines were nearing the walls. Thersandros and his personal guard stationed up on the wall were accompanied by Alkaios of Agathe (Thersandros’ son in law) and his personal guard.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    When the siege tower was pushed up to the wall, barbarian spear-wielding troops climbed up and began flooding onto the walls, only to be met by the elite infantry defenders of Massilia.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    It was a long and casualty-heavy battle for the Celts and a great victory for Massilia and her people.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Thersandros congratulated all of the soldiers after the battle with a short but to the point speech.
    “Today is a great day for Massilia- we have thwarted a Celtic assault, our forces in the west are mobilizing for an assault on the barbarian Gauls, and our economy is beginning to rise from the depressing downturn! You should all be proud of Massilia and her citizens!”
    It was true. A Gallic army had moved to a point near their border with the Greeks of Massilia, and Thersandros’ son Adeimathos raised a small army to meet the barbarians. He set up a camp near the Gallic camp to keep an eye on them.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Later that year, they were attacked. Adeimathos was in the commander’s tent, sipping wine from a small, clay cup, looking over plans he had drawn when one of his soldiers from his guard unit rushed in. It was night, and he thought everyone was sleeping.
    Looking up in surprise, Adeimathos asked what was going on.
    “Sir,” the soldier said. “We are being attacked! The Gauls are only a short distance from our camp!”
    Adeimathos stepped outside his tent and woke all of his troops. They quickly prepared for battle just outside camp. Adeimathos was nervous because the original Gallic army was aided by another one. Hopefully, he thought, my troops pull through. The Gauls do have the element of surprise, though, and numbers…
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Little did Adeimathos know this would be his final battle fighting for Massilia. In the midst of the difficult battle, Adeimathos fell to a barbarian blade. He’d hoped that he would die in battle, but not this soon. With this blow to the moral of Adeimathos’ troops, they routed.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    When news reached Thersandros that his only son Adeimathos died, he mourned in his villa for the rest of his life. A small ceremony was held in the villa’s courtyard for the brave general. Thersandros spoke briefly of his bravery and valor on the field of battle. Not even a year later, Thersandros died. Nobody quite knows, but the townspeople speculate he died of a broken heart.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Alkaios became the leader of Massilia after Thersandros’ death, and he began planning in his villa with his top military advisors of a war of vengeance against Gaul. The first step- Gergovia.
    In these troubled times, one sign of hope shone- a daughter of the royal family was getting married, and her husband would become a general for Massilia.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    The moral of Massilia after the siege was high, their brave leader and his fellow general Alkaios defended the city valiantly. But, after the battle with the Gauls and the death of Adeimathos, Massilian pride was fading.
    ...........................................................................
    Sorry for how small the pictures are this update, I'll try to fix that. Also, please leave some feedback

  8. #8

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    this is great! just the screenshots are really really tiny :S

  9. #9

    Default Re: [RTW XC AAR] The Pride of Massilia

    Quote Originally Posted by Apollyon View Post
    Oh interesting. It's an incredibly hard campaign, so if you aren't used to XC, I can see you failing in your first attempt.

    No shame in that, will make for an excellent AAR.

    I look forward to it. Do XC proud (its one of the hardest mods out there).
    Is it about as hard as XGM?


    IB:Restitutor Orbis Signature courtesy of Joar.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •