[Conquered] The Cappadocian War

[NotYetRegistered]

Breakaway kingdoms of Persia


In the rugged mountainous lands of Cappadocia, Armenia, and northern Media still remain remnants of Persian rule. Armenia and Atropatene are friendly enough and may aid a diadochi but have in the chaos essentially become independent. Cappdocia on the other hand is quite hostile.
In Cappadocia an ambitious son of the former Persian satrap by the name of Ariarathes has gained widespread support from the local nobility. His intentions are not yet openly stated, but his family was known to be fiercely loyal Darius III. Recently, he has expelled the small Macedonian garrison and proxenos (Macedonian ambassador) of Alexander. Rumors report he is raising a vast persian host in Mazaka, some tens of thousands.

As Eumenes crosses the border with the royal army, he sends a messenger to Ariarathes.

Ariarathes,

The generals and men who conquered the world come at you! Your rebellion has been noted. Surrender and you will be treated well, your family will lack nothing, and Cappadocia will know no widows. Resist and you will perish, for we outnumber you greatly in courage and strength.

Eumenes

[Aetius]

Ariarathes makes his move



Ariarathes tore Euemenes the message of the Greek into pieces as he read it.

"These miserable barbarians may have taken our empire but they shan't take Cappadocia. As cretinous as they are, their soldiers are formidable, although I have a strategem of my own. Summon the Asabaran, we ride for Pontus to gather support there! Make the Makedonians bleed for Cappadocia, it shall be a fortress.

Effects:
+80% chance Ariarathes field battle, 20% chance defensive/tricktster strategy, rolled the latter https://rolz.org/dr?room=Diadochi

+Ariarathes is going to go to each city in pontus and illicit their support , by 3/11 if nothing is done to stop him he will have gathered more soldiers to his cause. React as you see fit.

3/8 Amastris
3/9 Sinope
3/10 Trapezus
3/11 Rhizos




Garrisoned at Melitene
12 bands of Eastern Axemen (3000 )
6 bands of Eastern levies (1500 )
8 bands of psiloi (2000 )

Garrisoned at Amasia
12 bands of Eastern Axemen (3000 )
6 bands of Eastern levies (1500 )
8 bands of psiloi (2000 )

Garrisoned at Mazaka
4 bands of Eastern Axemen (1000 )
32 Eastern Levies (8000 )
14 psiloi (3500 )


Garrisoned Amisos (in pontus)
30 Cappadocian Cavalry (3000 horsemen)
40 Eastern Light Cavalry (4000 horsemen)
8 Eastern Levies (2000 )
4 Eastern Axemen (1000 )
2 Psiloi (500 )

[NotYetRegistered]

Eumenes calls a war council to lay out the plan to the other commanders.

''Hail, friends. Ariarathes had decided to withdraw to Pontus to gather more forces, leaving his cities in Cappadocia guarded by garrisons. We have a great army, but it is not one I would wish to waste on storming every city in Cappadocia. We will besiege Mazaka and wait for the reinforcements of Antigonus to arrive. Once they arrive, Melitene and Amasia will surrender immediately once those forces arrive because of our sheer might and only Mazaka will remain, but perhaps they too will be persuaded to surrender once they see the rest of Cappadocia has surrendered. In the meanwhile, I will write letters to the Pontic cities and beseech them not to aid a Persian, but rally under a Greek, like they are. Prepare the siege.''

1 day for lighter siege engines.
2 days for heavy siege engines.

[NotYetRegistered]

Eumenes writes a letter to the Pontic cities, to the tyrants and assemblies alike.

Hail, fellow Greeks,

As I entered Cappadocia, I was informed that Ariarathes had fled to Pontus to gather your support, and I felt rage at his cowardice and sadness at the prospect of fighting my fellow Greeks. Thus, lend me your ears, countrymen, and do not fight for Ariarathes.

He is a foreign overlord, a Persian who seeks to undo all the work us Greeks have done in civilizing Asia. What good can come from a barbarian ruler and what trust can one put in such a ruler, compared to a Greek who protects Greek cities? Whatever privileges you had under the rule with Cappadocia, I promise I will protect them.

Besides that, by the time he is ready to march into Cappadocia, he will be a landless man. When my reinforcements arrive, Melitene and Amasia will surrender and by the time you arrive in Cappadocia, Mazaka will have been taken by my forces. Once you arrive in Cappadocia, he will have nothing left but the cities of Pontus to fight for him and he himself will be powerless.

Thirdly, though I have heard great tales about the heroism of the Greeks of Pontus, I must say you are outmatched. Even if you were to marshall all your forces, from your psiloi to elite hoplites, if every citizen was brought forward to fight for the Ariarathes of Persian Cappadocia to fight against me, Eumenes of Greek Cardia, you would still greatly be outmatched and likely march into a great slaughter, for you would fight against the men who have conquered the world and against the generals who led them. This inevitable end would leave the cities in Pontus crippled and thousands of women as widows, which would be a great tragedy, for both the Pontic cities and its people are the jewels of the Black Sea.

Eumenes

A somewhat different letter is written to the Persian Pharnaces and Datames.

Hail, lord,

I have heard of the flight of your lord. It saddens me that this could not be decided in a quick and bloodless battle, but instead he has chosen to involve you. Though Ariarathes was once a mighty man, now he is a landless noble, fleeing from the Macedonian army. Cappadocia will have completely fallen when Ariarathes returns, leaving only you as his companions, ordered to fight against a foe who conquered the world and has invaded his land with a massive army. In this battle, it would be inevitable that you would lose, for tens of thousands of the veterans of Alexander oppose you. This endeavour would leave you ruined and your lordship destroyed, and I do not wish for such carnage and destruction. Thus, I propose that you do not march alongside Ariarathes and submit to me after I have defeated him, or join me in my fight against him. If you do so, you will continue as you are, with the same privileges as you had under Ariarathes.

Eumenes

OOC: Quick question, what is the relation between Ariarathes and the Pontic cities exactly? To what extent does he rule and to what extent would I rule if I respect their privileges? Sorry, should've asked earlier. Also, concise list of my arguments below.

Arguments:
- RP Greek bonus (only for Greek letter)
- I will respect the privileges they had under Ariarathes.
- By the time the Pontus forces arrive, Mazaka will have been stormed and enough reinforcements will have arrived for Melitene and Amisos to surrender automatically, which makes him landless. Who would fight for a relatively powerless landless noble?
- It's suicidal. Even if you add literally all of Pontus troops, I have at least 2x more BP than them + Cappadocia in battle, so they would lose all of their men in a battle they have like 5% chance of winning for a Persian. See: New Battle Calc (use) tab in spreadsheet.

[Aetius]

Siege of Mazaka




For nearly 6 months the siege of mazaka had now dragged on. The city's walls were immense and it was well supplied, only a great army could take the city by storm. Without Alexander leading them the commanders were not in unison on what to do until Eumenes took command and began ordering construction of mighty siege towers and catapults. The plan was to overwhelm the cities defense by sheer force attacking from two directions. Eumenes and Craterus would lead the northern assault where the main gate of the city was, the easiest and most sensible area to attack. For this purpose he had contructed numerous siege towers that could be wheeled foward. Polyperchon was in command of the south and given mixed implements to acheive his goals.

Northern Assault (Eumenes picked wall assault, defenders picked wall defense) defenders +50% bp

The siege towers wheeled foward full of the Alexander's Argyspides, the most veteran of the veterans, many having fought since the very beginning of Alexander's campaign. They may have been in their 40s and 50s but each of them had kill counts in the dozens. They were without a doubt, the greatest warriors in the world. Eumenes feared the archers on the walls and ballistas would hit some of his towers but the cappadocians had exceedinly poor aim, none of the towers were damaged, and unloaded their contents upon the walls. Although the commander of the city had anticipated this assault upon the walls the absolutely fearless the argyspides killed without hesitation and simply could not be resisted. The cappadocians bravely fought and bravely all died. The Argyspides opened the gates and the rest of the army charged in finishing off the entire northern defense line.

Southern Assault
Polyperchons attack was more spread out hitting distant parts of the southern wall. The defenders had chosen to protect the gate area and with a determined volleys drove off the rams but elsewhere macedonians took towers and soon the standard of Polyperchon flapped proudly in the wind. In despair, the defenders looked to the north and say the standards of Eumenes and Craterus. Their king Ariarthes had abandoned them, and the commander commited suicide. The victory of both sides was stunning and the siege of Mazaka will be known as a continuation of Alexander's masterful military legacy.



Result: Clear Victory


Attackers Casualties
Hoplites (Antigonus) -2
VETERAN Pezhetairoi (Eumenes) -1
VETERAN Pezhetairoi (Polyperchon) -1
VETERAN Pezhetairoi (Craterus) -1
Uazali (Eumenes) -1
~approx 2000


Cappadocian Casualties
Total some 14,000 casualties + unknown civilians






notes
+the rest of the cities in cappadocia are intimidated by this army and have all surrendered without a fight
+report on ariathes moves to come soon

[Aetius]

End of a Kingdom


Encamped outside Amisos, Ariarthes had great success in gathering troops from the black sea states. He felt at first that a lucky event could swing the war in his favor now, an ambush, an attack on good terrain, maybe sweeping down upon the macedonians encamped around Mazaka. These dreams of grandeur turned to dust however as soon as a haggard rider from the south arrived

"Great King, Mazaka has fallen to the Macedonians, and the rest of your territories have turned to their side without a fight"


These words hung in the air like a portent of doom.

The stragesoi of Rhizos, Trapezus, Amisos, and Amastris all gave excuses to leave and within an hour their armies had abandoned the Cappadocian King. The Amisosians ordered the now beggar king to leave their land. Only the Strategos of Sinope, seeing some value in having a claimant to Cappadocia and his armies with them offered him refuge behind their great walls. Ariarthes, has no choice to accept.





However in secret, the lords of Sinope send a messenger to Eumenes...


Effects

• Rhizos, Amisos, and Amastris have all become vassal states of Eumenes, they offer either half of their income each turn in return for protection or offer a free defensive alliance where they will send soldiers to Eumenes aid incase he is defended (he chooses)
• Trapezus, being an ally of Sinope has sent nothing to Eumenes yet but will not tolerate the cappadocian King either
  

Diplo roll base
Base 50%
Service owed to liege lord Ariarthes +50%
Large Macedonian Army -15%
Fall of Cappadocia -15%
Eumenes RP appeal (both hellenic, and both fellow greeks) -20%

=50% chance to betray the King