[EB AAR] ROMANI (A Historical Roman Campaign) [UPDATED 4/23/2013]

[EdwinMerit]

Thank you all for such interest in my first AAR. It makes it truly enjoyable to be able to update this story so much more with readers who share such an interest in the subject. I guess you can say that I am thankful for having such a great group of people following this AAR!

Anyhow, because of Thanksgiving and the food, travel, and family visits involved, I won't be getting a chance to post the concluding part 3 of the Incvrsio Africae mini-story until after the holiday. Look for an update either sometime this weekend, or early next week.

Thank you all again, and thank you for your kind comments Predator!

To all my friends here in the States, have a very Happy Thanksgiving! (and yes I am a very big Charlie Brown fan, haha!)

[Dejeyo]

Really fine update. Can't wait for next one. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Basileos Predator]

Happy thanksgiving mate.BTW, you don't need to thank me, you do all the hard job, and i only do the reading and get amased by your writing style and your AAR in general.All my coments are well deserved and what can i say, :Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

[EdwinMerit]

CAPITVLVM III (Part IX): Incvrsio Africae [3/3] (Defeat [Battle of Tvnis])


While the Roman army under the command of consvl Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs had scored a number of grand victories and forced the Karthadastim to sue for peace, the end of the war was still not near after 10 years of fighting.

499 AUC

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Consvl Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs had obtained a sound victory at the Battle of Adys. Sound enough, in fact, that he was able to begin to negotiate peace talks with the Karthadastim for an end to the war with Roma as the victor.

However, the Karthadast were a proud and widely respected people who would not be humiliated or reduced to nothing in such negotiations. As such, they promptly refused the treaty put forth by the Romani and in doing so, denied Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs the victory and trivmphvs that he so hoped to receive by the time he returned to Roma.

It was now 499 Ab Urbe Condita and his term as consvl was soon to be up and he returning home. However, Roma still had not sent reinforcements, nor a replacement, to require him to step down as the commander of the Roman army. As such, he pushed forward and seized the city of Atiqa from the Karthadastim while they were still gathering a force to try and launch a final assault on the Roman commander and his legions:

Each of his main infantry regiments were to construct a group of ladders to scale the walls of the city with so that the city might be used as a base of operations to launch an offensive on the city of Karthadast in the future without need for extensive repairs. The city was relatively unguarded as it was (most of the city's capable fighting force was defeated at Adys) and the walls themselves would protect the Romani better than the Karthadastim in the event that Karthadast was able to raise a large sum of men to fight:

As it was, the Romani only had to overrun a small garrison force within the city and defeat a small sum of reinforcements called up from the countryside to protect the populace. However, defeat here would warrant a certain destruction for the army, consvl Marcvs Atlilivs Regvlvs, and any hopes for a clear Roman victory on Africa:

Seizing the City of Atiqa

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Upon arriving at the Karthadastim city just north of Karthadast, the Romani set up their camp and began to plan a quick offensive to take the city. The city itself was not entirely large, but had sections which made it certainly dangerous if attacked haphazardly:





The Roman consvl began his attack by ordering his squadrons of infantry to attack and scale the walls in the southwestern portion of the city. It didn't take long before the Romani were able to overrun most of the garrison in charge of defending the gates and towers surrounding the city:











As a result, the reinforcements that were being brought up from the countryside to aid the besieged city were unable to properly reach the city from the north and were slaughtered outside and around the city gates:







As the Romani captured the outer portion of the city without much resistance, the Karthadastim garrison commander withdrew his troops into the stronghold at the center of the city to attempt to potentially dispel any Roman attack:



He left a small force outside of the gates to the stronghold to defend from a potential fire being set by the Romani, but many began to be cut down by the Roman skirmishers:



However, the Romani entertained little thought of allowing for the Karthadastim to continue to hold troops in the center of the city, and, as a result, quickly forced many of the garrison troops to flood out of the stronghold and into the town plaza:





These troops quickly were met by the Roman infantry already bearing down upon the square, and (even for fighting as hard as they did)...









...were cut down by the Roman foot infantry and forced to surrender.





Roman reinforcements arrived at the town plaza to aid in the final push to seize the city from the Karthadastim.



The Romani discharged their remaining pillum into the clumps of Karthadastim soldiers who remained outside the gates of the citadel. Although they too would continue to fight with the strength that only men certain of death could, they would be either forced to surrender to the Romani, or killed in the central plaza:

The Romani occupied the settlement (they did not have a proper route to be able to export much of the slaves back to Roma until the remainder of the Roman fleet arrived back at the shores of north Africa), but quickly made their presence known to the local residents through oppression of the local populace and elimination of any dissidents. The Romani looted only what they truly needed since they did not wish for a full scale rebellion, but also had to tools to be able to take care of one if need be. As a result, the Roman consvl Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs sacked the Karthadastim Temple of Astarte and used it as an armory/barracks for the time that the city was to be the base of operations for the Romani:

As such, the Roman consvl achieved another victory for the Romani, his army, as well as himself:

However, peace was nothing short of nonexistent to the Romani as their new base quickly turned against their new occupants:

Worse yet, the Karthadastim were able to hire a mercenary commander by the name of Xanthippos who had raised an army capable of giving the Romani a proper battle. Xanthippos reorganized the Karthadastim army in such a manner that he was confident enough in his fresh, inexperienced and unskilled militia that he offered (more-so forced) the Romani to meet him on an open battlefield outside the city of Tvnis. It was here that Xanthippos could use his elephants which escaped the Battle of Adys to full affect and deliver a fatal blow to the Romani.

The Romani were lured out of the city by a group of rebellious armed militia who threatened to cut supply lines to the Roman base. After the Romani came out into the open, to meet this small and insignificant foe, the mercenary General Xanthippos showed his newly raised army and called on the Roman consvl to fight him outside of the city.

Consvl Marcvs Atlilivs Regvlvs, still hopeful of defeating the Karthadastim before he was to be replaced as commander of the Roman army, accepted this pitched battle near the city of Tvnis:

The Battle of Tvnis

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Roman army, still not having been completely replenished since their original victories at Adys and Atiqa, deployed in the typical Roman manipular formation:



Meanwhile, the Karthadastim General Xanthippos deployed his militia-heavy center at the front of his army with more experienced mercenary troops on either flanks. However, at the very front of his lines were the feared elephants whose presence alone seemed to tip the scales of the battle in his favor.

The elephants quickly attacked the front of the Roman lines and tied the Romani up in a hard fought fight which allowed for the Karthadastim to line up their men and prepare to outflank the Roman lines:





The Karthadastim soldiers approached the Roman lines from almost all sides and quickly began to skirmish with the Roman leves and akontistai. However, the Roman skirmishers were far too busy ridding themselves of the Karthadastim elephants to properly engage the Karthadastim skirmishers until they were already at a large disadvantage:



The Roman skirmishers reorganized themselves into their usual formation, but by the time they turned to face their opponents, they noticed that they were being charged headlong by the Karthadastim infantry:



The Roman skirmishers quickly retreated behind the Roman infantry and socii alae, but the battle seemed to be rapidly slipping away from the Roman consvl and his army.



The Romani managed to hold the center against the weak militia of the Karthadastim, but another problem was making its way towards the Roman lines. The Roman cavalry, already depleted and outnumbered 8 to 1, were routed from the field within minutes as the Roman flanks began to collapse.

The sheer speed in which both Roman flanks crumbled led to consvl Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs being stuck in the middle of the fighting with the remainder of his men:





While the Roman infantry were inspired by having their consvl and commander so close to the front lines fighting alongside them, they also knew that having him this close meant that something had gone horribly awry. Indeed it had, because not long after the Roman lines began to break through the front of the Karthadastim infantry...





...they were met by an even larger force attacking from the rear. The Roman triarii now formed the front line for the Romani, but were still little match for the sheer outmaneuvering force of the Karthadastim:





Roman soldiers began to flee from the carnage at the front (and now back) of the fighting. This left their consvl in a horrible position to try and escape from.





And indeed he would not. Consvl Marcvs Atilivs Regvlvs was captured by the Karthadastim and the battle was now completely lost...









The remnants of the Roman army were either left dying on the field, or fled to the approaching Roman navy to be transported back to Sicily.

It was now clearer than ever, that the fighting would not cease for quite some time. The two forces had shown that even when one side seemingly had the upper hand, one battle could quickly erase all progress made over the course of weeks, months, or even years.

Those who managed to escape the Battle of Tvnis retreated to the original landing point near the city of Adys. However, the Roman soldiers, and entire fleet, were not safe yet.

The Roman admirals strongly advised the newly elected Roman consvles Aemilivs Pavllvs and Fvlvivs Nobilior to head northward to Italy and then cut through the straights of Messana. This would be a much safer route to travel with such a large fleet this time of year since the waves would not be nearly as choppy. However, the Roman consvles ordered their admirals to steer the fleet straight under Sicily and to the Romani and Syracvsan controlled south. This was because they wished for a speedier route to their bases on Sicily in order to dispel any Karthadastim counterattacks following the disastrous Incvrsio Africae.

The decision would have fatal consequences...

The Roman navy still had the corvi mounted onto their ships in case they were to be attacked by the Karthadastim navy en route to pick up the remaining Roman troops. This made the ships incredibly top heavy and unable to wade in choppy waters as well as most other triremes and qvinqveremes might be able to. To make matters even worse, a powerful storm whipped up in the southern Mediterranean Sea and rapidly approached southern Sicily and most of Magna Graecia. The storm made otherwise fairly choppy waters downright impassable and capsized the entire Roman fleet off the coast of southern Sicily.

184 of the 264 Romani ships were slammed into the rocky shore and an estimated 90,000 Roman marines, soldiers, and rowers were killed. The Romani had never seen such a disastrous year since the sacking of Roma by the Gallic tribes nearly 150 years prior.

The Romani were devastated by these horribly unfortunate events and looked for a way to not only end the war, but now make sure that Roma was the victor (something that many began to worry may not happen after all).

The current state of the SenatvsPopvlvsqveRomanvs:

The Situation on Sicily:

Not having such a large army and fleet really alleviates a ton of expenses!

Replies
Dejeyo: Thanks once again! Hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

Predator1994: Thank you for your kind words. I hope you had a grand Thanksgiving weekend as well and appreciate the continued support!

WarriorCat: Thank you and I'm glad that you enjoy Charlie Brown as well! Nothing quite like Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and good 'ol Charlie Brown!

[The Kybrothilian]

A really good update! Xanthippos and his army gave the Romans a hard beating.

The opening picture is also fantastic.

[Basileos Predator]

Ooh that was agrim defeat.
All in all, great update.I woould advise you to take Corsica, Sardinia and all of Sicily(not sure if historicaly accurate).
Cheers Predator!

[Dejeyo]

Some people start a ''historical'' AAR but after few turns they start to rampage across the map. It's nice to see that you really stick with your idea, even if this means that you must lose some battles here and there. Great work so far. Keep it up!

[EdwinMerit]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of an update this week (I'll try my best to get one up either tomorrow or on Monday), but I have been busy with quite a number of things this week. Whenever I have gotten some free time I have spent it testing out the new Otomo Campaign on Shogun 2. Pretty interesting... pretty dang tough... haha. For those who haven't tried it out, basically, you start as a Christian Clan with everybody hating you and since two of your neighboring clans start out at war with you, your economy is in shambles. It makes for an interesting campaign and a difficult first few turns. Either way, it certainly is fun though I doubt I'll do a full campaign since my first priority is of course this AAR.

Not really an update, but I just thought I would let you guys know what has been going on. Thanks for all the kind comments, I'll be sure to address them in full during the next update (again, hopefully tomorrow or early next week).

Happy First Day of December!

[Tigellinus]

I have only just begun to read this AAR, A excellent read! I like how you are staying as historicaly accurate as possible!

Keep iy up mate!

[EdwinMerit]

CAPITVLVM III (Part X): War Without End


After the disastrous defeat at the hands of Karthadastim and the fury of Neptvnvs, the Romani began for a defensive stance for the first time in the war.

500 AUC

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Romani had been soundly beaten in North Africa by the very people who they thought had just surrendered to them. Following the news that not only was a Roman consvl being held prisoner in Karthadast, but also that the entire Roman fleet had been decimated by the anger of Neptvnvs, the Romani prepared for the worst.

They knew that even with a strong army still on Sicily, the Romani had lost control of the seas and were now back to where they started (albeit with more territory under their control). The Senate had no interest in a ceasefire with Karthadast unless it proclaimed Roma as the ultimate victor. Thus the war was to continue to the dismay of many who saw the death toll continue to climb ever higher.

The Karthadastim took advantage of a weakened Roman force to reclaim territory which they held at the beginning of the war. The easily defensible city of Agrigentvm had been where the Romani gained the upper hand in the early stages of the conflict. However, years had passed since the Battle and Siege of Agrigentvm and the original occupants had been sold into slavery with much of the town laying vacant.

This made the city useful as a base of operations to the Romani, but otherwise completely useless to either side. The Karthadastim knew that it would be fruitless to attempt to hold the city against Roman counterattacks, and so they promptly sent their forces through the ragged and unforgiving terrain...

...descended upon the city with force...

...and then overran the Roman garrison, burned the town, and left but only the smallest group of men as a garrison force:

The Romani would look past this minor setback and begin to prepare to launch a counterattack on the Karthadastim. However, this time they would not attack the city of Agrigentvm, nor any cities or forts laying in the south for that matter. The new, old consvl Cnaevs Cornelivs Scipio Asina (remember him? ) along with the other consvl Avlvs Atilivs Calatinvs had a new target in mind:

The northeastern region of Sicily firmly under the control of the Karthadastim. The target in mind was the Karthadastim city of Panormvs which would allow the Romani to cut supply lines to the Karthadastim bases along the Western Coast and also be able to launch fresh attacks against the major port city/ fortification of Lilybeo.

However, to do all this, the Roman consvles would need fresh troops:

A new fleet:

And a little bit of time...

The current state of the SenatvsPopvlvsqveRomanvs:

The situation on Sicily:

Replies
The Kybrothilian: Thank you once again! It was a tough battle, but it did give me a good photo opportunity, haha!

Predator1994: Yes, it was tough to lose a competent commander and some hardened veterans, but that is the price you pay when you go for historical accuracy (I don't even want to think about the Second Punic War when I get to it!)

Dejeyo: Thanks Dejeyo! I appreciate the kind words since it is indeed tough to have to turn down a perfect striking opportunity for the sake of historical accuracy, but overall, I think it makes the story that much more fun (even if we know how it turns out ahead of time )

Tigellinus: Thank you and I hope you enjoy the AAR! It is always nice to gain a new reader.

[Basileos Predator]

Another fine update.I will be looking forth for your facing against that monstruous army in Sicily belonging to Kart-Hadast.
Cheers Predator!

[Dejeyo]

Excellent update. Keep up the good work!

[The Kybrothilian]

Great work! Time to push them back now.

[EdwinMerit]

Hey guys,

Just posting to say that I am in the process of editing the pictures and writing the text for the next update which should be ready either tomorrow or a little later this week. It covers the Roman advance on Sicily as they begin to return their focus to fighting solely on Sicily and capturing key holding points to try and bring the war to an end.

Thanks guys! Update should be coming up shortly!

[Basileos Predator]

We'll be waiting for it.
Cheers Predator!

[EdwinMerit]

CAPITVLVM III (Part XI): Renewing Roman Efforts


Roma had learned its lesson in trying too hard to take the fighting outside of the main battlefield of Sicily. As a result, the Romani began to focus the efforts on the large island to try and overwhelm their enemies.

500 AUC (cont.)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The year of 500 AUC would close out victorious for the Romani. After a series of horrid defeats which left the Senate at a loss, and wondering how long the war with Karthadast would last, the Romani finally had a victory worth noting.

The Romani had successfully overran the garrison of the Karthadastim controlled city of Panorma (Panormvs):

The consvles for the Romani for the year 500 AUC were Cnaevs Cornelivs Scipio Asina (famous for earning the congnomen 'asina' after his failure at the Battle of the Lipari Islands earlier in the war) and Avlvs Atilivs Calatinvs. Both of these men wished to focus on returning much of the focus of the war to Sicily. In order to begin to do this, however, the two consvles needed a fleet to be able to have a foothold in the waters surrounding the island. They got just that while they were both holding office:

The first offensive was a quick attack on the Karthadastim base of Lilibeo:

Prior to the Roman capture of Panormvs, Roman scouts reported back that the garrison within the stronghold would be hard to defeat, and so after ordering a quick 'hit-and-run' naval supported attack upon the city, no further military action upon the base at Lilibeo was issued.

501 AUC

The year 501 AUC was an interesting one in terms of worldly affairs. In Asia Minor and the Greek Cities of the Aegaen Plains, the Second Syrian War between the Ptolemaic Empire and the Empires of Seleukia and Makedonia ended with a marriage:

The Seleukid Empire had controlled much of the area in the Syrian region during much of the war, however, their ally in Greece (Makedonia) had problems of their own brewing which led to their withdrawal from the war.

Antigonvs II Gonatas, King of Makedonia, had to deal with a rebellion from his very own nephew, Alexander. The rebellion was sponsored by Ptolemy II and led to the cities of Corinth and Chalcis revolting and declaring themselves as independent cities and monarchies. The loss of these two cities was a brutal blow to Antigonvs who now lost access to southern Greece and the city of Athens which he had just fought so hard to capture a few years prior. This threat, combined with the increased activity upon his northern border led to a quick resignation from the conflict.

The war concluded in 501 AUC after both sides had apparently had their share of fighting and looked for a quick way out of the war. This arose when Antiochvs, King of Seleukeia, married the daughter of Ptolemy II, Berenice. This meant he would have to divorce his current wife, Laodice, which seemingly would not be the safest decision longterm (his new wife would be suspected of poisoning him once he left her due to Ptolemy passing in 508 AUC). But for now, the war had ended with a satisfactory result for the Seleukid King:

Back in Roma, the news of a naval disaster loomed around the forvm once more as part of the newest Roman fleet was caught in yet another storm and destroyed whilst lurking in the waters near Africa. The fleet was en route to Roma from North Africa when it was caught in a terrible storm past Lilibeo and was brought to the bottom of the sea by Neptvnvs. The loss was relatively minimal, however, and the majority of the Roman navy was still very much in tact.

Meanwhile, the lack of militaristic operations for the time being led to civic and diplomatic matters for Roma being reinvested in for the first time since the war's beginning:

A new peoples from the far eastern regions of the world met with our traders in Asia Minor and offered to exchange map information as well as tales from the East.

Also, one of the Lusotannan tribes of the Iberian region, who had been facing an encroachment of the Karthadastim upon their lands for quite some time, allowed us to know the topography of the lands surrounding their tribes. This exchange would prove useful for future operations in Iberia (or Hispania) later on in Roma's history.

For now, however, more was needed to help accommodate the influx of people into the main, regional cities and strongholds as the Romani continued their push forward:

The allied city of Syracvsae upgraded their governmental structure...

...as did Taras and the stronghold of Messana...

...as well as the Italic city of Arpi.

The Romani would capture the Lipari Islands north of Messana which had given them an embarrassing defeat in the past. Roma, not one to forgive those who cause them trouble, quickly occupied the islands and sacked a number of towns. This would lead to a period of poverty in a number of the islands, but they would recover in time:

The year would close without much news except for some political news as well as a Roman statesman's son coming of age to help serve the Res Pvblica in matters both civil and militarily:

A very broad picture of the operations and situation on Sicily:

Replies
The Kybrothilian: Thanks! It certainly is time to begin to push them back. There should be but one last (extraordinarily minor) obstacle to a clear Roman victory on Sicily!

Predator1994: Thanks once again Predator! Your wish will come true in the next update (I already have the pictures of the massive battle between me and the large Carthaginian army). I had to take advantage of an opportunity to fight the battle, but because of how the historical time frame works with the Roman capture of Panormus, I have to include the battle in the next update. (The big battle for Panormus wasn't actually when the Romans took the city, rather it was when the Carthaginians counterattacked the Roman controlled city).

Dejeyo: Thank you Dejeyo!

[Dejeyo]

Nice update. It's always nice to see how other factions are expanding/losing their territory. I really enjoy reading your updates despite knowing what will happen next. Excellent work!

[Basileos Predator]

Great update.The campain situation has a great development (seeing the epirots expansion, but also some unchanged development in Asia.
Excelent work and great update.
Cheers Predator!

[The Kybrothilian]

Nicve work once again. The Epeirotes have managed to do their usual job again, conquering Macedonia. Do you plan to rectify this in the future and give Pella back to Macedonians?

[EdwinMerit]

CAPITVLVM III (Part XII): The Road to Victory


The Romani stand at the base of a steep hill as they await the onslaught of the Karthadastim army as they look to retake the city of Panormvs.

502 AUC

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The year of 502 AUC was relatively uneventful. The Romani suffered a minor defeat while trying to fully conquer the Lipari Islands. The eqvite class of horseman and their accompanying soldiers were blamed for failing to follow orders set forth by the consvl Cotta. Nonetheless, Cotta captures Himara and later Lipara in order to seal the Roman conquest of the islands just north of Messana:

In civic news, the city of Ariminvm completed construction of their newest governmental complex to complete the large building project across the Res Pvblica to accommodate all of the newly conquered lands and peoples:

503 AUC

The following year was much more eventful for both the Romani and the Karthadastim. The city of Panormvs lay under Roman control despite the fact that the Karthadastim held the lands surrounding the city. The Karthadastim had been seeing their forces become more and more depleted as the war continued to drag on. The Romani had the luxury of being able to cycle fairly fresh troops into the battlefields of Sicily as well as having the upper hand in momentum for the majority of the conflict. The Karthadastim knew that they needed a victory to be able to try and stop the Roman advance upon western Sicily. They also needed to recapture land in the process, so they set their sights on the city of Panormvs in northwestern Sicily:

The Battle of Panormvs

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Following the Roman invasion of Africa, the Karthadastim were forced to deal with a slew of lasting problems. Not only did the city of Karthadast become overrun by refugees resulting in food shortages and a spike in crime, but the vassalage of Libya rose up against the Karthadastim along with the Numidians. The Karthadastim were able to suppress these rebellions, but more resources were diverged from the fighting on Sicily to do so.

Following this setback, the Karthadastim sent Hasdrubal, son of Hanno, to Sicily to command a new army to try and force the Romani back from Karthadastim Sicilian lands:



Hasdrubal had fought the Romani before and was present at the Karthadastim victory at the Battle of Tvnis. Still, the Karthadastim had faced numerous defeats after that victory and one of the results was that they were stretched extraordinarily thin militarily. They would need a crushing victory at Panormvs to avoid another disaster either back home or on Sicily.

Having been forced back into the city by the large Karthadastim army, consvl Lvcivs Caecilivs Metellvs ordered his army to leave the city to meet the Karthadastim army who were ravaging the countryside. The Karthadastim army was just crossing through a river near a valley when they were met by another large army belonging to the Romani:



The Romani had dug protective ditches around the city to be able to use their light troops to full affect and screen the front lines of the Karthadastim:



This tactic worked well for the Romani since the soldiers were protected from the Karthadastim missile fire (both from the troops on the ground and those riding elephants). Hasdrubal, however, decided to try and take this advantage away from the Romani and ordered his men to rush the front lines of the Romani and kill any light troops in the ditches:







Unfortunately for the Karthadastim, the Roman consvl had anticipated just a move and ordered his infantry forward to meet the approaching enemy force:





The Roman soldiers fought hard and ferociously against the wave of Karthadastim troops and quickly began to force them back from the front lines:







The situation for Hasdrubal, on the other hand, could not be worse. After ordering his initial charge, the men who were stationed in the ditches now had a free shot to throw their javelins and throwing stones at any Karthadastim soldiers or elephants who were rushing forward. In the hail of javelins, a few of the elephants were felled and the rest began to panic and rout from the field.



The Roman consvl saw this as a golden opportunity to engage the Karthadastim left flank which was already weakened, but was now completely helpless:



He ordered his men who were coming out of one of the city gates to shift left and flank the spaced out Karthadastim force.



Parts of the Karthadastim line began to waver...



...and then to break...





...and before long the left flank began to rout piece by piece.



The Karthadastim flank had completely collapsed and the result was chaos for the rest of the Karthadastim army. The Romani drove down the rest of the Karthadastim line and routed the entire army from the field:









The Romani would choose not to pursue all the men fleeing from the field (most were mercenary soldiers who would more than likely desert the feeble Karthadastim force anyhow). The Romani did, however, decide to capture a few elephants who were still running around the battlefield panicking. These beasts were brought back to Roma to later be slaughtered in the circvs.

The Romani were victorious once more against their rivals and the Karthadastim tasted bitter defeat once more. As was tradition following a large defeat, Hasdrubal was recalled to Karthadast to be executed for his failure to the Karthadastim Empire.

The shame and feeling of failure did not stop just there for the Karthadastim, however. This defeat would be the last Karthadastim offensive on Sicily (minus the guerrilla warfare tactics used by Hamilcar Barca). The majority of cities which were once staunchly Karthadastim now proclaimed their alliance to Roma giving the Romani the majority of Sicily and a very generous foothold in the northwestern regions of the large island.

Among those cities which switched to the Romani were Ieta, Solous, Petra and Tyndaris:

The city of Thermae had just been captured by the Romani late in the previous year while they were sending troops out to the city of Panormvs to meet the Karthadastim:

Now with the majority of Eastern, Northern, and now Western inland Sicily under their control, the Romani focused south once more as they looked to be able to sieze the Karthadastim naval stronghold of Lilibeo...

The current state of the SenatvsPopvlvsqveRomanvs:

The situation on Sicily:

Replies
The Kybrothilian: Thank you! Yes, a couple factions are trying to go north for some reason or another (they always seem to want to just go to Russia for no real reason ). Anyhow, once I complete the First Punic War and the Mercenary War land grab for the Romans, I will more than likely send a legion or two over to Greece, Macedon and Asia Minor to right some things. What is interesting though is the whole situation going on over there:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Macedon wants Pella back under the correct rule...

The Ptolemaic Empire and the Seleucid Empire are just going back and forth over Sidon and a couple outposts in Southern Asia Minor (fine by me since it is technically fairly historically accurate)...

I wanted to know where a lot of the Greeks went and well... I found them.

Oh, I also spent a good deal of time laughing at this bit of diplomatic news. How long will that last? I give it two seasons.

Either way, the situation will be getting a reboot in a little while once I finish the current chapter.

Predator1994: Thanks Predator! I have already had to deal with the Epeirotes once (not even counting the Pyrrhic War) and it looks like I may have to again if the Macedonians don't do it first.

Dejeyo: Thank you Dejeyo. I have to admit that it is interesting seeing what everyone is doing in the game. Luckily their isn't a TON of ahistorical expansion like there normally is whenever I play EB, but there will be a couple factions which get ...reduced... following the conclusion of the First Punic War. Thanks again!