RTW 2 DEI Neo Pontos

[okkie2]

Enjoy my very first AAR. Any tips, suggestions and such are welcomed Content will continue and I will add more when a new part is ready to go

278 BC - Winter

The year is 278 BC, winter in Anatolia. My men and me are stationed in our winter quarters at Amaseia, preparing for the campaigning season coming up. We are currently at war with our southern neighbours, the Katpatuka. They call themselves brethrern of us Greeks but their peoples have been so diluted by these eastern, and even celtic, barbarians that they should not dare to call themselves Greeks! I, Mithridates I Ctistes, have already devised the strategic plan for when we are to invade these so called ‘Greeks’. Due to the limitations that any plan would have if we are to not traverse over our neighbours lands, we will enter their lands through the South-west, the Mazacan valley. The ony land border(crossing) we have with our enemy. This valley will be a tough trek for the men, the area is heavily wooded and semi-mountainous terrain, while they will have no respite when coming out the other end, as we will immediately descent upon the enemies capital to press our advantage. They will have to endure. They will endure. These men have been with me since I came to power, and they have served me well. They see that we have no choice other than to be aggressive. In these lands we call home, there is no room for the ones who doubt. When hesitation means death, a certain boldness is required of a man who is to lead his peoples into a new future. Which is nothing short of what the Pontic people deserve. All these petty kingdoms around us finding themselves righteous enough to govern, while they themselves were only shown greatness when Alexander conquered them not so long ago. This will be again, but now, it will not be one of those ancient Greek states who have seen their best times. This new age will be ushered in by the great Hellenes of Pontus. My armies and myself will conquer all that come before us, and bring civilization to all these lost peoples who will all get the choice to become Greek, or die as a barbarian.
To our direct west, we have the kingdom of Sinope. These people too are calling themselves Greeks. And, I have to say, they do have some eloquence left which would resemble us Greeks as opposed to others. But nonetheless, they too, will have to be assimilated into the greater Pontic kingdom which is to come if the region is to prosper. But, they do not have to know this until it is time. For now, we have good relations, and we will try to sustain these for as long as it suits me.

To the south, we have the celtic Galatians. Known as Koinon Galaton. These people have finally settled in this region of central Anatolia. Although barbarians, they are fierce fighters, and can be a formidable foe if not strategically (and tactically) outmatched. These people are one of the greater direct threats we have to be both cautious of and deal with appropriately. If we manage to subdue even a part of the celtic population, they could be valuable additions to our armies as auxiliaries, if not plain fodder when needed.
Sandwiching Sinope between us is Bithynia to the West. Although not Greeks, these people are our momentary allies. They hold the strong city and Akropolis of Nikomedeia and are a formidable force in the region. They have the potential to be a valuable ally in the region and will serve well as a first line of defence of any land force entering Anatolia via Thrace.
To our East we have the Greek kingdom of Trapezos. These people are descendants of Greek settlers in the region like us, and are currently in a war with a mountain people in the Caucasus mountain region named Kolkhis. These lands have an important strategic value, as they act as a border land between the Anatolian plane and the Caucasus mountains which is the border between the more ‘civilized’ Mediterranean and the great barbaric steppes which lie to the north(-east) of the Caucasus. These great planes have been known to create some great barbaric hordes which destroy civilization if left unchecked. One of the keys to a strong Pontic kingdom within Anatolia? A strong border in the Caucasus.
To the South-east lies our last direct neighbor. The Armenian kingdom of Hayk. These aggressive and treacherous people are our biggest direct threat in the region. Although not directly at war at this moment, we have fought numerous proxy wars in the region, culminating in our current war with the Katpatukans which they also, all be it discretely, support. After our complete and utter victory over Katpatuka we will have to inevitably start to face east, even if only to shore up defences while securing more of the direct region at first. As it would be outright stupendous if we were not to prepare for an incursion of the Armenians, as these people treat us with the most contempt, and should be treated as likewise.

As my army is hunkered down for the winter. We are thoroughly training new recruits, both Greek and native contingents, as we will optimize both for a speedy Pontic victory, in the style of Alexander. One of my commanders is training a complete new regiment of superb Hellenic hoplites from our core Greek population, 600 of the finest men which will be at the center of my coming campaigns.
But, Ruling does not boil down to a being just a military commander, and so I return to administrative duties in the winter while my commanders train my army.
The endless streams of reports I receive from my spies tell me that the population is not all that pleased at this moment, the tension of war is a strain on the market place and thus the war is in turn damaging the economy. This too is a reason for the very important need of a great and swift victory over the Katpatukans. I have ensured that a new public works programme is under way, as I have instructed my engineers to construct a great civil settlement at our capital Amaseia, providing tonnes of people with work and diverting their attention away from their immediate woes.
All that remains to be done now, is wait until spring sets in and the winter snows melt.

278 BC – Spring

Spring has set in, and as the snows melt, I ride out to my armies winter barracks. There I see the regiment of Hoplites my commander Pontikas has trained. They look magnificent, strong in their bronze armour, solid in their design. Upon seeing these impressive ranks, I ordered Pontikas to train me another of these regiments, doubling the amount of core Greek hoplites in my army from 600- to 1200. Considerably boosting the capabilities of my infantry contingent. I also moved my army from their winter barracks in Amaseia to the South of the city-borders. Here they can conduct field drills ánd react swiftly to any incursion coming from the south or south-west.
In the meanwhile I must conclude that my public works have not appeased the public as I hoped, not as of yet. I decide to partially change my tactic to a more assertive one and call upon ones of my trusted spies to directly engage with the populous of Amaseia. I ordered him to seek out any. If at all, ring leaders who might be stirring up trouble against me. As it is always better to snuff out the direct culprit, as you are prone to rebellion of you leave this either unchecked, or bluntly go after big bodies of civilians, as that will only incite civil unrest. Something that must be avoided in order to ensure we are to focus on our military ambitions in the near future.
We have rebuffed request from our neighbor Sinope. They offered us their promise that they would not attack, but dared to ask 3000 gold pieces in return! I laughed tremendously before the envoy, before scoffing at him and conveying to his king that I do not respond kindly to blackmail.

278 BC – Summer

As summer approached, we were once again approached by envoys. Only this time, they were envoys sent by the king of the Galatians. News had reached us prior that the Galatians and the kingdom of Sinope had declared war upon eachother, and so it was not suprising they came to seek assurances from neighbors, although their proposal was as preposterous as our supposed friends brought us past spring. The Galatians also offered us their promise of no aggression, but they also showed their greedy nature by asking some 2,500 gold pieces for their word. I had the envoys forcefully evicted from my court, strapped them both to two donkeys, and sent them home with a letter to their king conveying the same message I gave to the envoy of Sinope. ‘’I do not respond kindly to blackmail”.
During mid-summer, Pontikas arrived at my court and informed me that the new contingent of hoplites is trained and armed, bringing my core infantry strength to 1200, these will be the anchor on which I will rely in the battlefield.
Upon inspecting this new regiment, I recognized the need for lighter, flanking infantry in order to protect my heavily armoured and slow moving hoplites, and so I ordered Pontikas to train me a new regiment of native troops, both skirmishers and infantry in order to properly screen my heavier infantry.
In the meanwhile, the front is quiet, we have had no word from our enemy and neither they from us, our armies have stayed in their respective provinces thus far. But we all knew that could not persist for long. My spies are telling me the Katpatukans are raising their armies and calling upon their levies, and will be ready to march soon. I will need to do everything in my power to ensur I will reach their lands first, and so I will have to make haste with training my army, without losing any quality in the process. It will be a hard summer yet.
278 BC – Fall
As Pontikas has now trained my fresh native contingent, I have ordered him to proceed with training native skirmishers, as we will need them in the upcoming campaign. I have also ordered the army to move from the city borders to the edge of our lands, setting up camp at the mouth of Mazacan Valley. I ordered them there to ensure I have to possibility of sending them over the border immediately if needed, while also being able to swing back to Amaseia, keeping our possible line of retreat open. I have orderd scouts into the valley to apprehend any Katpatukan scouts in order to keep our position concealed for as long as possible. The element of surprise could yield great benefits for us if I were to choose to invade. Although fall now is upon is, I will have to wait until next spring before commencing on any action. I will have to ensure my army is ready to move, as I do not think next summer will be as quiet as the last.
In the meanwhile, the civil unrest in the capital has only worsened. My spies have been unable to sniff out the dissent and the situation is becoming a thorn in my side. I decide to send in a governor to ensure the province prospers, and send in Pontikas with my hoplites to engange in regular patrols around the capital to hopefully pacify the population.

277 BC – Winter

The Galatians have sent another envoy. This one coming to me with gifts and apologies for the earlier misconception he states. They now offered a mutually beneficial trade agreement, with no sides have to pay any amount up front. As the region of central Anatolia is only an objective for me after I have secured my region, I accepted their offer. Trade will benefit us greatly and will allow us to pay for the wars we will have to endure on our way to greatness.
Pontikas has trained up yet another native contingent, this time purely skirmishers, and they will serve me will in the upcoming battles. I ordered him to create one more native contingent, 600 light spear and a some 120 horsemen, as I seek to finish my army composition to strike in the coming summer. My army now has a good balance and a healthy appetite for battle. Pontikas has trained them well.
In the meanwhile I do have to admit, that the civil unrest has not abated. It has worsened yet, and will severely comprise the stability of the region if left unchecked. Due to the preparations for war my army is not able to fully commit to properly policing the province, and so I must quickly end the current ‘task’, which is complete preparations and defeat the katpatukans, in order to rush back home as soon as possible to try and finally stabilize the region and check the civil unrest.

277 BC – Spring

Spring has come upon us. As the first reports of snow melting in the valley came to me from my scouts, I immediately gave orders to break up camp and move into the Mazacan valley. Our invasion has finally begun. My spies have reported that the enemy has been at work recruiting levies, but if their rapports are correct I am confident we should be able to outmatch their forces. I ordered my spies to hinder the enemies food supplies for as much as possible, as I try to affect the enemies morale before the have encountered their forces. We came halfway through the valley, encountering no enemy resistance so far. As we were not going to reach the enemy capital before summer without a forced march, which I deemed unfavourable as it would leave my forces dangerously tired before battle, I ordered to set up camp in the valley. We will rest here before marching up to the capital, maybe even enticing an enemy sally to meet us in the field, which would give us a great chance to outmaneuver, and consequently defeat them.
My home province is still restless, but the civil unrest is containable so far. I will need to wrap up to campaign quickly so I can pacify the people at home. Maybe the victory itself will be enough to do the trick, as even the gods know that a great victory placate the people.
After successfully concluding our agreement to trade with the Galatians last winter, they offered again to give their word to not attack us, but foolishly asked for another gift on our part to make that happen. This time though, they had asked a token fee, 200 gold pieces, but nevertheless, I denied their request and they went on their way.

277 BC – Summer

After I ensured my army was rested and fed, I ordered the men to break up camp and resume our trek, now on our final path to the enemy capital, Mazaca.
After 3 weeks, we arrived at the city. It was garrisoned by the local levies with the enemy army also positioned inside the city. Although the city itself has no walls, I do not want to automatically engage in street fighting with the enemy. They have the superior numbers, some 5600 in total while my army amounts to some 3800 men. The general quality of my units is vastly superior to theirs, but their numerical advantage should not be underestimated. In street fighting I could make use of the superior quality of my infantry, while a field battle would give more opportunity for flanking and rear-guard maneuvers for my cavalry.
I decided to besiege the city when we arrived, not wanting to wait in fear of giving them more time to get supplies into the city. When we arrived, a local mercenary commander arrived at my camp and offered his services to me. He offered me 100 greek mercenary lancers, an offer I accepted seeing as I could hopefully use this cavalry to greatly threaten to enemies flanks and rear.
I decided to attack. Time was of importance, and so the siege has to be concluded as possible. I ordered the men to battle positions. The enemy sees this and forms up their men likewise.
Our lines opposed eachother, with a hillside on the east-side. Although the enemy started with my on this hillside position, they soon left the position in favour of lining up with their incoming reinforcements. Seeing this as an opportunity I slowly started to inch up the mountain with my men, progressing deliberately without losing cohesion. This required great skill of my men, for which I have training of Pontikas to thank for. As the enemies reinforcement join their lines they adjust their battle line in order to meet mine. My right flank has now arrived at the top of the hill, after my right-wing cavalry rode ahead securing the top of the hill. Their line outflanks mine by quite a bit, which was to be expected with their numerical superiority. Now I need to try to position my men in such a position so that they have as much advantage of the slope as possible, or atleast no disadvantage.
The enemy army consists mostly out of light infantery, they lack skirmishers as they only brought some 300, and they do not seem to have a large cavalry contingent either. This, I will need to use to my advantage if I am to be victorious today.
The enemy commander recognized that my army was maintaining cohesion while marching towards the hilltop, and did not attempt to harass my lines. My men were able to safely secure the hilltop and now my right flank is secure on the flat plain on the hill, opposed to the enemies left flank. And my left flank is stationed on the sloping side of the hill, opposed to the enemies right flank. I could not match my enemies battle line, as this would stretch out my men way too thin. So I decided to order my men to form up further to the right, which means that my right flank, now is aligned with the enemies left flank, while my left flank ends somewhere opposed to the centre of the enemies line. After that I order my right flank to move ahead while I instructed my center and left flank to stay behind, this way my right flank moved closer towards the enemies left so they would be able to engage first, delaying engaging my center and left flank for as long as possible. This way I hoped to rout the enemies left flank before I even engaged with their center and right, hopefully negating (some of) their numerical advantage.
On top of this, I ordered all my cavalry, 200 heavy melee cavalry & 250 missile cavalry to guard my much shorter left flank, while my right flank advanced towards the enemy. I ordered my native skirmishers to the right flank, directly behind my infantry, in the hope of dealing as much damage possible to the enemies left flank in the shortest time possible.
While my skirmishers were moving to their position on the right flank, the enemy suddenly began moving. Our lines clashed, with their left wing crashing into my right long before their centre or right were in range of my lines. I ordered my skirmishers to lob volley after volley, while my infantry was to hold firm. I ordered my skirmisher cavalry to ride around the left flank of the enemy, threatening their rear and forcing their infantry to stop moving towards my line and face them. While this happened I ordered half of my melee cav to charge an isolated spear unit on the move on the left flank, while I ordered the rest of the melee cav to run around and charge the unit in the rear, routing it on impact.
The enemy has focused a lot of men on both ends of their line, with the center the weakest. Against my strong center and right, and weak left. I used my cavalry to the fullest extent as to make sure the enemies right flank crashed into my left as late as possible. After losing most of my cavalry in this delaying tactic I withdrew the remaining cav and ordered them to disrupt enemy skirmisher ranks behind enemy lines. This gave the enemies right the time to crash into my left, obliterating it within minutes. In those minutes, my cavalry was successful in fending off most enemy skirmisher units and my right was able to force a breakthrough, routing the enemies left wing. During all this, my center partially crumbled, with some 400 hoplites holding out.
Now I turned the units of my right flank to the center, meeting the victorious enemy right wing, coming to the aid of the few remaining soldiers battling for their lives against overwhelming odds. I ordered the hoplites to the center, skirmishers to the left and the few remaining horses to the right, hoping to arrive before my men break. My forces arrive in time. The enemy has become disorganized and massed their soldiers on my feeble center, so I swing around my skirmishers and slam them in their right flank, while I order my cav to slam in their left. Some hoplites also turn around to slam in their left, while the rest of the hoplites reinforce the center to relieve their battered fellow hoplites. Upon charging the enemy lines, much of their remaining force flees, with some 850 enemy men staunchly remaining, fighting to the end for their masters. I order my men forward still, and almost completely envelop this last pocket of men. After this last push, and some further charges from my men, the last resistance breaks and the enemy flees. We have achieved victory in the face of unfavourable odds. After being victorious my men and I entered the town in triumph, with the local population not discontent with us as the previous lords were not well-liked. The katpatukan army had fled, having evaded total annihilation they fled to the woods to the south of the city. Seeing the situation in the province, I told the local leaders of this province I would give them back their rule, and offered them self-governance if they promised their friendship to the kingdom of Pontus. They gladly accepted, and we also agreed on a mutually beneficial trade agreement as part of the liberation.
Entrusting that the new local government is able to deal with the remnants of the Katpatukan army, I order my army to head home through the same valley from where we came, to finally restore peace among the commoners at home while also bringing home the spoils of war after a successful campaigning season. My army had performed well, achieved victory while at a (big) disadvantage, without enduring catastrophic losses. We are to go home with high spirits, as such we deserve. and as such for our neighbours to take note as the Pontic kingdom begins to grow!

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Welcome to the Writers' Study!

This is a great start to your AAR. I like the way you build up to the battle, and I particularly enjoyed your dealings with the envoys. I hope the civil unrest will remain at bearable levels, and I look forward to hearing about the further expansion of your empire!

[Alwyn]

Yes, welcome to the Study from me as well, and this is a very good start!

It sounds like the training by Pontikas is much-valued and that Mithridates is a good planner, taking into account the dangers of a border crossing through wooden and somewhat mountainous terrain, and a decisive leader, knowing when to take a risk and recognising the importance of cohesion on the battlefield, and of carefully weighing the quality and composition of each side's units when choosing tactics.

You asked for tips and suggestions. While there's nothing wrong with relatively long updates, you might want to consider some shorter chapters. Posting shorter chapters can make it easier for your AAR to build up views over a period of time. It can also make it easier to have chapters written which you haven't posted yet - which can be useful, for example if you realise when writing chapter 6 that it would be great to edit chapter 4 (maybe to introduce a character who will be important later on), it's obviously better if you haven't posted chapter 4 yet. More suggestions are available from the Critic's Quill, for example in Writing a First AAR: Ten things you can do.