Antigonos the Conqueror

[Javolenus]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to announce my first successful campaign with XGM. OK, so it was a short campaign. OK, so it was on M/M dif. OK, so I got some help from my 'Need Advice on Greek City States' thread (again, many thanks for all replies). But to me it's still a milestone because I rarely finish RTW campaigns let alone win them. And so, to celebrate, I have changed my avatar to a GCS symbol.

I didn't keep any detailed notes or screenshots so I can't do an AAR. But here's roughly how it went (I might have forgotten some stuff):

275 Antigonos of Sparta (a 'natural born leader' with 6 stars) wins his first battle against Greek rebels, aged 38.
274 GCS take Patras and Corinth, having thrown themselves into war with Macedon. The Seleucids declare war.
272 GCS take Thebes. Small garrisons at Rhodes and Pergamum manage (somehow) to fend off Seleucid attacks. No time to take Crete now!
271 GCS bankrupt! Agree to become a Seleucid protectorate in return for 15,000. Temporary peace with Macedon. Pressure off Rhodes and Pergamum. GCS uses money to fund war with Greek Independents (GIS).
266 GCS take Thermon from GIS. War kicks off again with Macs and Seleucids. Pergamum eventually falls to the Seleucids.
264 GCS take Larissa.
262 to 261 Battles with Macs - Antigonos victorious.
260 GCS take Pella and Amphipolis. Greek Independents retake Thermon.
258 GCS retake Thermon from GIS.
255 Thrace delares war just as the Mac faction is about to bite the dust. GCS take Sardica and Naissus. Thrace takes Amphipolis.
254 GCS takes Seutopolis from Greek Independents and Amphipolis from Thrace. Antigonos is following a system using three assassins for sabotage (not assassinations!) and two spies for intel prior to assaults. Fortunately, most cities do not have strong walls! In the Macedonian war, Antigonos settled captured cities and developed them - no massacres (he occasionally took slaves). In the Thrace war this changed. GCS were eventually facing Macedon, Thrace, Germans, Greek Rebels, Greek Independents and Seleucids. This was total war! And so Antigonos massacred Thracian towns and ransacked them for cash in order to buy mercs and recruit troops.
252 GCS take Singidinum. Germans declare war! GCS are continually sending recruits to the front to feed the war. Generals are recruiting mercs wherever possible. More towns fall to GCS, including Tomi, a GIS town. GCS are almost at the gates of Byzantium but the priority is Thrace.
251 Economy is in plus figures but fairly low - all expenditure on war. GCS entertain idea of attacking Crete and build a fleet - it is never used. GCS troops (detachments commanded by captains) suffer several defeats at the hands of the Germans. But Antigonos remains focused on Thrace. GCS detachments avoid battles with the Germans where possible - all manpower and resources to be thrown at Thracian towns. In battles the Thracian generals are usually killed. Antigonos insists that all his generals engage in combat during battles until their bodyguards are killed - only then may they retire.
250 GCS take Sarmizegetusa, having reduced Thrace to this last settlement. Thracian faction destroyed. Victory conditions met.

Antigonos ended the campaign as faction leader with 10 stars, 3 management scrolls and 10 influence wreaths. He won the epithet 'The Conqueror' and won a 'famous victory in Europe' (should this be marked on the strat map?). He was married to Eunika and they had three children. One of his sons died in battle. Antigonos' retinue ended up as: mentor, poet, priest of Nike, hero, slave trader, barbarian turncoat and bodyguard.

GCS ended the campaign with 33,000 in Treasury. They controlled 18 regions: Rhodes, Athens, Sparta, Patras, Corinth, Thebes, Thermon, Larissa, Pella, Amphipolis, Sardica, Naissus, Buridava, Sarmizegetusa, Vibantavarium, Tomi, Seutopolis, Aemona.

The GCS forces won 75 battles and lost 28. Athens, Sparta and Rhodes never fell, although often threatened.

Star units in the GCS army were Cretan archers and the Spartan royal bodyguard. Antigonos fought the campaign without cavalry units (except for generals' bodyguards). Wherever possible he opted to use ranged troops - slingers and archers - to wear down the enemy before attacking.

The GCS navy saw little action. In the early campaign it ferried troops and generals around the strat map. Thereafter it protected the port of Athens.

Antigonos used diplomats to successfully bribe some enemy captains (no force diplomacy used!) and to forge alliances with the Romans and Germans. The Germans immediately broke their word and attacked. GCS offered peace and the Germans demanded 10,000. GCS paid the money but were betrayed the following year.

Elsewhere on the strat map, the Roman faction was struggling for survival against the Greek Independent States - consistently the most powerful faction. The Celtiberians conquered the whole of Spain and Gaul (Gaul faction destroyed).

Although triumphant in the short campaign, the GCS postion was far from secure: surrounded by enemies, no strong navy, ports often blockaded, and no spare generals.

Antigonos waged a lightning war against Thrace, which was ruthless but effective. As GCS territory expanded, touching several borders, new enemies arose - for example, the Germans. The Seleucids and Independent Greek Cities remained powerful enemies. the Germans proved a treacherous foe and no doubt a savage war would be the only sequel to this first campaign.

I left Antigonos in his moment of glory, kneeling before his goddess, Nike, bestower of victory . . .

[Scutarii]

Nice campagn, very fast-paced. I don't think any of my GCS campaigns have been that hectic, although I haven't played one on the latest versions. Nice move accepting protectorate for money to destroy Macedon, that saved your treasury, although it was a bit of a risk. In the future you may want a stronger navy to keep all of those oft-blockaded ports giving you their insane amounts of money (particularly in Greece).