The Grey wave - Diadochi Seleucid AAR

[HansDuet]

The Grey wave

HAA! You didn't expect i would be back so soon! Muahahahaaa!
Krhm.
Now i have decided to start another campaing in XGM: Diadochi and this time will not happen like last time. So i choce the Seleucids, they have allready a large empire in beginning. How could an experienced TW veteran like myself find any challenge? Well well. (this uses still my own modifications so Centauri are still in replacing Backtria.)
Here goes:




So i held the territories of largest of successor states, should be easy this campaing... maybe the Egypt offers some challenge.

Ahaa.... Damn spoiled brat Alexander. How bad are the things in eastern part of the empire. Public order 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, oh 10! nice! Income isnt very cheering either and if they are garrisoned, the garrison is two units of Sparabara, the crappiest unit in game. There are even no family members close these areas. Cities and towns are also underbuilded, having no bonus buildings and most dont have even walls. *sigh* I just need to start massive building operations now and leave warfare until i got some infrastructure. Only thing good seems to be that i own one unit of war elephants and enemies, except Egypt, seem to be weak.

Now i play a few turns, starting the building operations. Attalids at the west seem to be aggressive and lay siege on Ipsus. No news from Egypt. I open trade relations with Greek cities. Then i press the "End turn" button. The easternmost parts of my empire rebels. Naah, i didnt need those towns anyway. Now i can consentrate at Attalid situation. I collect the garrison troops under only general in east, only known as "Demetrios"

I muster my best troops available and send them to take back Ipsus, which was taken by Attalids a couple of turns ago. Attalids decide to attack. (Its not the largest of battles but there really is no better now.)

So i start with one unit of war elephants, clearly the best i got. Better not to lose it. Then i have three units of Greek cavalry. Not the best of cavalry, but with elephants. should have more than enought shock value. Peltasts i send to pepper the smaller enemy army (a unit of militia hoplites)
Nice weather, dark and rainy. Many souls will sail to hades tonight.

Peltasts are bombarding the enemy with javelins and i prepare one of the Greek cavalry units to strike at them similtuanously with Peltasts. Elephants and other two cavalry units are moving towards other enemy.

Ha! A well timed charge from back and front kills enemy general and collapses the morale of troops. Soon they are all cut down by cavalry spears. (messy image sorry.)

Then i move my forces to meet the enemy. Enemy general clearly fears my elephants and tries to take them out by charging all his forces against them. Mistake!

Elephants charge against enemy militia-based army, and my cavalry charges from other directions. My peltasts and generals greek cavalry have finished the enemy peltasts and are now joining to fight.

Enemy morale collapses and they are cut down when fleeing. Enemy general, the cowardous dog, escapes with his life. I will take it from him in close future.

Heroic victory! With no elephant losses. I must keep my valuable unit intact as long as possible.

At the meantime, mysterious Demetrius is teaching rebellious dogs a hard lesson and captures one city back. It has still public order in 0, but now it has a decent garrison.

Ipsus falls back to my hands and enemy governor is executed by furious elephants. I am worry about rather large Attalid army moving in my country. I cant do a thing to it right now. I must get troops from somewhere. Propably mercenaries.

There, the first part. Feedback, please.

[Kara Kolyo]

The seleucids are my favourites since vanilla RTW. Good work! BTW what graphic settings do you use. for some reason on my new high settings the units in distance look terribly squarish?!

[-Aquila-]

Great AAR, start was a very interesting read. I couldnt beleive when all those cities turn rebel all at the same year - seems Seleucid Empire is in bad way at start. Cant wait to hear more.

And Kara Kolyo i seem to get that aswell on my high settings! As soon as i scroll out they look all weird and blury. I seem to recall it happened to me after the first time i installed a mod onto RTW, or i just never noticed it before!

[HansDuet]

Thank you!
I use everything at best except the vegetation and buildings. They are at medium.

[RedFox]

First of all,
to get rid of the blocky unit bug, you need to turn on the "Unit Shaders" under Video Options.

Secondly, great to see a Seleucid campaign on XGM - Diadochi
I would really recommend moving your capital to Seleucia - closer to the Eastern cities, which will improve public order. As for Attalids, they should be pretty much eliminated once you cut the head of their one and only army, which would leave you against Macedonians and Independent Greeks. You should be afraid of Macedonia, they will start sending quite large stacks in the future.

I also suggest that you strengthen the northern border with some forts, Pontus and Armenia can get annoying with their covert stacks otherwise. Egypt shouldn't be a threat as it's way too weak to muster a proper army.


Otherwise, it seems to be going quite well, I recommend using Peasants to garrison non-border cities, which should keep your income healthy.

Cheers, and my Zeus be with you on this task.

[HansDuet]

Thanks for the tips, RedFox.
Anyhoo, here comes the second update. I finally got some stability to my empire.

Anyway, The Attalids attack against my army i send to their lands. Should be interesting.

My army is a army of mercenaries and some loose Seleucid militia troops, but i still got the elephants and mercenary Iphikratean hoplites, which are my elite troops in this battle. I got those Greek cavalry units too. They'll deliver a nasty punch in the back of the enemy. Attalid army is a one tough phalanx, supported with puny one unit of sparabara and the generals bodyguard. Their phalanx, however, is formidable, with 3 units of Pezhetairoi and 2 units of Pantodopai as support. I decide to strike first against the weaker forces of the foe.

The sparabara are advancing towards the flank of my formation, right towards the terrifying elephants. I make the order and massive creatures charge towards the sparabara, trambling many and throwing men around like they were toys.

Enemy peltasts start to bombard my elephants. Enemy main force clashes with mine and i order the Greek cavalry unit, who were hidden in the forest nearby, to flank to enemys rear. I would lose the infantry combat against the solid Attalid phalanx. Luckily, they didnt see it coming.

Greek cavalry strikes from the back of the unsuspecting enemy and their left flank collapses. Enemy joins their general with his bodyguard to the fight.

Fighting is tough and many fall. Enemy Pezhetairoi are superior to my forces, while i have the superior numbers over the enemy. My elephants are runnig amok, but luckily far from the fight. No need to kill them. Enemy phalanx keep coming through my lines but then...

...the enemy generals throws his life away and now feeds the carrion birds.

Seeing their general die, enemy forces turn away from the battle and flee. Generals bodyguard pursues them. Only one unit of Pezhetairoi stand their ground and fights to the dead, like true greeks should do! The last words of the last man of that unit were: "I die as a free man...."
Does he mean that were somekind of aggressors here? No... noble last words of a brave man. Luckily, not every enemy soldier were so brave.

A clear victory! A road to Pergamum is open! Soon, the wealthy city will be part of the Seleucid empire.

My forces lay siege and we will stay and siege until they realize it is best for them to join the empire. We want the wealth and power that city can offer. A powerful outpost towards the west. At the same time, a financial situation has significantly improved and rebellious population have calmed down. Now i can start to building the empire!

Now i see myself being able to train "selucidic" stacks. Large stacks, composed mainly from bad-quality infantry. Muahaaa! But its fun anyway to just steamroll over Parthians with sheer numbers.
Its the grey wave.

The citizens of Pergamum, after years of sieging, finally realize that it is better to be part of the empire than alone in the night. They make a fine addition to Seleucid might, growing soon over the might of the Macedon.
Many mines in my empire and wealthy trade routes to the east are bringing enormous sums of money to me. I send an expedition to Armenian areas, and a stack in Parthia are closing the Parthian capital. Soon i will take back the rebellious settlements in east. There is nothing going on in Egypt.

I expected this. Other Greek cities in area have allied against me. They shall be part of the empire too. Soon.

Hah, this starts to look much better now. Got money and got the manpower. Though i also got enemies all-around me.

Feedback please, updates coming probly tomorrow.

[-Aquila-]

Great battle, the screenie from the Sparabara's view with the elephants charging right at them-must be best shot i have seen!

Im just wondering but what cities/where are they do the independent greek cities have near you?

[HansDuet]

Khrm. Hardly the best shot ever, but thank you!
Indedpendent cities near me are at least Halicarnassos and Byzacium... i cant remember the one in Pontus now.. RedFox knows perhaps.
Independents are actually the third in power meter.. after me and Mac's. But they are shattered, should be just a little fun. Macedonians are the real challenge i think.

[-Aquila-]

Well it sounds like next one will be interesting, how do you keep your parts of your AAR roughly the same size mine always seem to varry hugly. As the last part of my AAR was huge. And the one before that was rather small.

[HansDuet]

Picking the best parts. Thats all. I try to keep them at same size, so they wouldnt overwhelm people with their massivity.

[Kara Kolyo]

looking good Hans! The grey wave is always fun with or against it

[Scutarii]

Great AAR! Good luck against those Macs, don't suffer the same fate as the Centauri's.

Looking forward to the next update.

[RedFox]

Seems to be going great, though you're getting a lot of income... have you tweaked the mining incomes? You seem to be getting awfully lot of easy money.
In my campaign the main handicap is money and time as a resource - simply don't have enough time to raise proper defenses.

Keep up the good work though, I hope you don't beat Macedon too easily.

[HansDuet]

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys!
Mining incomes? what....
Ok, i have modified, about three things. I raised the value of all resources, I replaced the Bactria with Centauri, made one unit to Pergamum and some odd unit cards. I think i make some cards to Seleucids soon. at least to the Deuteroi.
Otherwise its normal Diadochi version.... 0.81 Beta.

Anyway, next update: a little larger than the previous.

The great grey wave has sweep through Parthian lands and now their capital has fallen to my control. Local inhabitants are extremely violent in nature and public order is zero on the streets. After i put most of the population to death, they still are rebellious... they seem not to understand what is best for them.

I send an army to drive away the Greek army sieging Sardis and they run. My army pursues them and sieges Halicarnassos, another important and wealthy Greek city. A fine addition to my empire.

They decide to attack. Its a close call. Battle shall it be then....

I assemble my army and start a march towards the smaller Greek force, which bravely moves towards my vastly superior force. Larger Greek army is still far and i shall destroy this fast before they get there. I order my javelinmen and Creeeessshiaan aaarrchers to spare their ammunition to larger army. This small one shall be brought down by pikes and swords.

One militia hoplite unit charges my combat line. Mercenary Iphikrateans put them full of holes and they turn and run. Rest of the enemy force charges towards my elephants. "Elephants... turn.... chaaaargge!"

Elephants cut through the enemy force, and once they have passed, i order my hoplites to attack

Hoplites charge against enemy with their swords. Many are struck down. Enemy morale is quickly broken and they turn and flee. Many are cut down by generals bodyguard.

But now, i must face the larger enemy force. I reassemble my forces and give javelinmen and cretans persmission to fire.

Many enemies die in the javelin shower and then clash with my battleline. Enemy is not well coordinated. Spartans may be brave, but this one is not a tactical genius. He just stands there shouting "This is Spartaaaa!" and other cliches, while his army is falling to many little pieces.

My peltasts and general join the melee and the shock-value quickly breaks the enemys morale and most of the army starts to flee. Spartans still run around the battlefield, blindly engaging anyone close enough.

Hah! Even the mighty Spartans flee before the might of the Seleucid empire!

So its a clear victory! Enemy acted extremely stupid in this battle. It just broke up and i could just use my mobile forces to charge behind them and finish them off without great problems.

So, Halicarnassos joins the Seleucid empire. But what happens at Pergamum? Macedonians have declared war and laid siege! Macedonians will be a worthy challenge.

More urging matters. A large Ptolemaic force is trespassing our lands. They look hostile, so i use the method "Attack is the best defense" and attack the enemy. They seem to be weaker than my forces, so this shall be easy.

Enemy force is mostly Numidian spearmen. Hah. My Deuteroi and Pezhetairoi eat them for breakfast, especially when the ground favours me. Uphill is better than downhill. I order the advance and enemy does the same.

Some Nubians are trying to flank my forces, but are greeted with a shower of javelins and arrows from my Bedouin mercenaries. They flee back.

Two armies clash. Enemy outnumbers me, but their skill is not far from the martial skill of my phalangites.

Seeing his troops are losing, enemy general charges in with his scythed chariots. Mistake to charge against a wall of pikes. Enemy general flees and takes his army with his. Most of them are run down by my cavalry.

So its a clear victory, with very few losses. I am disappointed at enemy. It was absolutely pathetic. Oh, well, i had great position with better troops and a capable commander. This will make the Ptolemies think twice before trying to trespass again!

I order my forces to march to Ptolemy land and conquer some lands.

Huh... thats it. Mac's finally have come to me, so tough fighting coming. These two battles were exceptionally easy, i expected better from the Greek army.
until next time.

edit: Oh, hell. I forgot to edit the screens...

[RedFox]

Seems like it went quite easily with those battles, don't expect the Macedonians to do any better...

Increasing the trade values of commodities might have been a bit hasty - at the moment XGM - Diadochi should pretty much be balanced on VH/VH leaving the player an appropriate amount of money that he would indeed get. (except for ships which actually had a quite tough upkeep cost)

I recommend playing your next AAR on VH/VH, as the AI is ridiculously stupid in battles and the only way to have some proper opposition is to play on VH/VH, which gives AI units significant bonuses, so that they fare far better in battles.

About the Unitcards - I actually already made a bunch of them a few weeks ago, so I'll try to finish up Thorakitai, Thureophoroi and Hoplites, then upload a small file with all the unitcards later...

[HansDuet]

I may play battle difficulty at VH, but i haven't enjoyed campaings with VH so VH/M or VH/H could be... i dont know yet. Have to finish this.

Anyway, a interesting combat coming on.

A large Ptolemaic army intercepts my force and i decide to fight, confident of my earlier success.

Enemy army is mostly cheap Nubian infantry, not really the best units available. However, they seem to have a healthy addition of Hoplites in their force. Those guys are real killers against my phalanx so i must figure something out. I order my missile cavalry to bombard enemy ranks and order my troops to advance on top of the small hill.

As expected, enemy charges his Hoplites right against my phalanx, while flanking with Nubians. Forces clash and casualty rates at both sides start to rise.

Enemy captain decides to run to pikes of my Deuteroi and soon flees in terror, but his confident forces wont follow. I am badly outnumbered and surrounded, my phalanx suffering casualties against enemy hoplites.

I support the wavering line with thureophorois, but still, im losing this slowly but certainly. My cavalry has scored a minor victory against enemy flanking force and are now free to use.

I order my cavalry to charge right into Nubians back and they flee in terror and many are cut down. Enemy hoplites couldnt care less. My captains phalangite unit is suffering heavily and wont hold long.

Then my captain is struck down by enemy hoplites and my forces flee one at the time.

So, a clear defeat. I couldnt flank enemy hoplites, so they could just slowly eliminate my phalanx, while my more mobile forces were engaging the Nubian sword-fodder... naah, a little defeat is refreshing..

So this gets interesting. Ptolemies siege Antioch and my forces in the area are thin. My best forces are fighting Greeks and Macedonians at the west. So this situation is worrying. Plus my income is coming down.. propably because enemy sieges against my cities and ever growing military upkeep.

Yeah, there comes the barbarian Macedonian invasion.
This isn't going to be easy. They outnumber my forces in the area, but i got a good army and an excellent general.

Macedonians are the one faction more poweful than me... also my Parthian conquests decide to rebel... i don't have much interest about the east now.


So, its seems to get harder now.

[RedFox]

Yeah, that's probably why Seleucids never actually conquered the world... seems like the Macedonians are becoming a major threat, but at least they're not going to send battalions of Pezhetairoi any time soon, If you stay on the defensive after exterminating Mytilene, you should be able to beat his levy armies and then move on to the offensive. Another thing could be removing Macedon's income bonuses which seems to provide them with ****loads of armies. It might as well be, that because you increased the value of commodities, Macedon due to it's excellent trading location is getting huge amounts of income. I haven't seen Macedon send 4 stacks at a time in my campaign...

Wars of the Diadochi indeed.

[HansDuet]

I was shocked when they brought those stacks in one turn... Yes, i guess i could remove those bonuses.. i wonder what would be most balanced. Their armies are mostly Pantodopai, Deuteroi and Hoplites. I got a slight advance over them due to mercenaries. Btw, Hoplites. Those guys are extremely tough. Their purpose is to eliminate enemy phalanxes, right? But they seem to beat very much everything in early game. I usually target the javelins to them. Are they somewhat unbalanced? :hmmm:

[RedFox]

Yeah, I do think they're a bit overpowered... you could lower their defense stats to: stat_pri_armour 7, 10, 5, leather; their shield and def skill were overrated before, for some reason.

[HansDuet]

Small update: Ok, i just beat the **** out of the Macedonian stacks, resulting they just send another four more. So i remove the resource bonuses i gave because unbalance...
I also fought Egyptians in my backyard, but they seem to have somekind of powers to threathen me.
Some pics or battle in next update.