[XGM AAR] Will of the Purpurati - An Interactive Seleucid Empire AAR

[Dictatorfish]

Hey there,

This is actually my second AAR, the first was somewhat of a failure (AI turn out to be worse than useless against horse archers, which eventually made it a bore to play and probably a bore to read). Anyway, the game is Rome: Total with the Extended Greek Mod (XGM). The updates in this thread are simply direct copies of the AAR subforum in the XGM board so anyone wishing to participate in the whole voting process will probably get a better response from myself in that thread there (link to original thread).

Anyway, I'm playing as the Seleucid Empire and doing so for the first time. I chose the TSE because some guy also in the XGM AAR subforum was doing one for them while I was doing my Scythian's AAR and he was crushed from all sides; I thought it might be fun taking on the challenge.

It's only just the start of the game, so the first update - which I'll post in just a second - is a direct response to the following question:

Currently, the immediate concern is the lack of infrastructure through the Empire. The next few years will be dedicated to improving the quality of living for all citizens of our lands and upgrading our military training facilities in preparation for the inevitable war with the House of Ptolemy in the South and the barbarian horsemen of the North.

An alliance with the Greek City-States and more recently the Macedonians allows us more breathing space to the West, but I suspect only temporarily. For now, this peace between our Hellenic peoples does get us time to develop our capacity for trade.

Since this is only the start, besides the few skirmishes against rebels and pirates, action is few and far between. Our sole spy reports of military movement in the South, clearly in preparation of an attack. But while their forces are gathering slowly, an army nearly 2000 men strong - and personally led by our noble king himself - is already stationed at Antioch in anticipation for the opening battle.

Now for the first item of the day (unfortunately, it being so early in the game, it's not the most interesting of choices); the war with the House of Ptolemy is inevitable. Do we:
a) make use of our superior position and prepare for the Ptolemic strike come to us while raising our own forces for an overwhelming counter attack,
b) take the initiative and march South with our current forces,
c) launch attackes of opportunity, striking at their scattered forces whenever possible in an attempt to bait the enemy into a pre-mature attack?

The response was b).

Please enjoy the AAR. Any comments are obviously very welcome, be they praise or criticism.

[Dictatorfish]

The great King Antiochides carefully seated himself onto his throne with the aid of his servants. Resting his aged body against the seat back, he spoke in a slow and deliberate manner to his royal council, the purpurati.

"Loyal friends, brothers and trusted advisers, it will not be news to any of you that our war with the House of Ptolemy has been raging for many years. However, there have been no major engagements by either of our nations for nearly a decade. We have recently made peace with our Macedonian cousins. I wonder if it is time we discussed a union of peace with our Ptolemaic neighbours?"
Every member in the council glanced at one another in shock and nerves. The elderly king broke into a toothy grin.
"I may be old and nearing my time, but my mind hasn't grown that soft yet. No, I know that the 'gypoes are bound to be up to no good and, by damn, we'll be ready for them even at their worst." A number of seasoned captains also broke into grins on hearing such crude language from their king (for a king); the aristocrats present were less impressed. "Peaceful years or not, we are at war and there's no mistaking that. Our friends inform us that there is much activity south of our borders and, like it or not, there will soon be bloodshed."

The council chamber was filled with discussion and excited chatter. One captain stood to address the table.
"Your majesty, in this brief period of calm, let us take the initiative. Let them defend against our forces. Surely the best defence is the offence." The king waved his hand and beckoned the young captain to take seat.
"Yes, yes, it has occurred to me. However, it is also clear to me that we are far better positioned to defend ourselves. We have a number of cities which are capable of raising an army to launch a counter attack..." The king was cut off by another captain, this time a once Iberian mercenary who had quickly risen through the ranks.
"My apologies, your majesty, but I do agree with the call to attack. Reports state that the Ptolemaic armies will require time to build up; they are currently weak and that is how any good Seleucid should keep them."

The king smiled as no one in the chamber disagreed with the notion. He signalled his servant over.
"Please call in Aristodikos, his chance to prove himself seems to have arrived..."

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It had been 2 years since Aristodikos's acceptance into the royal family. Since his adoption, he had shown promise in the arts of war, but never given the opportunity to prove himself. During those two years, under the tutor of King Antiochides himself, his mastery of the theory of strategy and tactics was as sharp as anyone. But only the theory.

Marching South, with a decent sized army and with his friend Antaios riding beside him, he had only come across a small skirmish Ptolemaic army and rebel forces - nothing worthy to test his talents. Due to a delay in awaiting the return of a unit of elephants from Cilicia, his army had only just made it into Ptolemaic territory by the end of the Winter season.

As Spring approached, early one cold morning, Aristodikos was awakened by the sound of trumpet. Leaping out from his bed, he covered himself just in time when Antaios burst into his tent.

"An attack?" Aristodikos asked as he hurriedly threw on his gear.
"Ptolemaic army spotted in the South. Big one too, from the sounds of it," Antaios said excitedly, throwing Aristodikos his helmet.
"And the men..."
"All ready and just as excited as you are. Sir." Antaios threw a mockingly perfect salute. Aristodikos grinned to his friend and lead them out of the tent.
"Well, let's hope our Ptolemaic friends won't disappoint them, then."

Aristodikos maintained a typical Macedonian line of phalangites, with his thureophoroi kept behind and himself at the rear centre. Knowing that his enemy far outnumbered his own forces, he aimed to strike quickly at the left half of the enemy's line of infantry while his war elephants - on the left flank - would divert the enemy's right half away. The cavalry were placed under the command of General Antaios on the right flank.

As the battle neared, Antaios manoevoured his cavalry to the far right in an attempt to lure the enemy infantry away from the main conflict.





As the Seleucid line finally moved into their positions, Aristodikos gave his first order.
"Close up on the enemy! Double time! Hit them hard, hit them fast, give them no time to respond!"



As the Seleucid phalangites sprinted at the Ptolemaic's left wing, Aristodikos ordered for the phalangites to enter phalanx formation with nigh perfect timing and soon the true, hard battle was underway.



Very quickly, the first indications of how badly outnumbered the Seleucid army was came about as Ptolemaic spearmen quickly outflanked the phalangites on the right.



Instantly realising the dire situation, Antaios ordered an about turn and charged into the rear of the flanking units. The poorly trained Ptolemaic soldiers quickly panicked at the sudden counter-attack and were routed.



On the left flank, the war elephants charged into the thin line of Ptolemaic infantry, tossing men wildly into the air, throwing the right wing of the Ptolemaic army into disarray.




In just one charge, the war elephants had reduced the entire right wing of the Ptolemaic army into a disorganised shamble.



However, it was on the left flank of the infantry where Aristodikos realised his first true mistake and one to be learned on the battlefield. In true textbook style, he had strengthened the centre of his phalangite line, failing to realise that - because of his initial strategy - this would mean his left flank would come into direct contact with the Ptolemaic's best infantry.

As the Ptolemaic army's own phalangite units closed upon the left flank of the Seleucid infantry, the thureophoroi threw their javalins in a bid to slow the advance.



However, no matter how many javalins were thrown, contact was inevitable and soon, the Seleucid infantry's left flank was surrounded by Ptolemaic phalangites.



Aristodikos ordered the thureophoroi to engage the enemy phalangites in order to buy time...



... time for Aristodikos's runner to direct the war elephants towards their new target...



... and their impact was immediate and absolute!



At the same time, Antaios - circling his way behind the Ptolemaic lines - had also recognised the danger and charged with his cavalry. Aristodikos, not noticing the additional being directed to this position due to the wall of men, also charged with his own unit of bodyguards.

The combination of the elephants and two cavalry charges decimated the Ptolemaic numbers and morale, and chaos erupted as Egyptians attempted to flee in all directions from men and beast.



Despite the successes of the destruction of the Ptolemaic flanks, there was still hard fighting in the centre. Early in the battle, the Ptolemaic general had bravely charged his own unit of bodyguards into the Seleucid pikes, punching a hole the phalangites never did fully recover from. Even during the build up to the dramatic events of the joint cavalry and elephant charge on the left flank, the Ptolemaic general was still leading by example, engaging with the Seleucid phalangites whenever the opportunity arose.



The result was a complete disarray and lack of formation in the Seleucid line which the Ptolemaic infantry were more than happy to take advantage of.



Eventually, Aristodikos - reunited with Antaios - trapped the Ptolemaic general between lines of phalangites and charged.




The Ptolemaic general was ultimately isolated from his bodyguards and slain.





With the death of their general, all remaining Ptolemaic resistance evaporated and fled to the hills. While, the battle was finally over, the battlefield would be forever littered by the bones and belongings of those who died that day.

There were a call for great celebrations that night after the battle. As night fell, the Seleucids who took part in the battle did not sleep - there was much singing and feasting. And obviously much drinking.

The celebrations lasted long into the night. Aristodikos, a truly military man, choice not to join in the celebrations but to keep watch in case of a counter attack (much to the dismay of his accompanying bodyguards). But even Aristodikos felt estatic by the day's events. It was his first major engagement and a truly decisive victory. A lot was learnt. However, we was especially thankful for Antaios's masterful command of the cavalry. Twice they saved the Seleucid forces from being outflanked and personally took part in the chase and killing of the Ptolemaic general.

As the more sober of the Seleucids woke to take their turn on watch, Aristodikos returned to his tent. Antaios was already inside waiting.

"Antaios, I want to thank you so..."
"Here, read this," Antaios interrupted, handing Aristodikos an open letter. "I did not want the men to know, What with the high spirits."

"Are you sure this is..."
"Royal seal," Antaios replied, not waiting for the end of the question.
"But he looked fine when we last spoke to him."
"They say that there's nothing suspicious and he likely died of old age."
"But you don't think so?"
"... I don't know."
"... Assassination?"
Antaios shrugged. "I'm not much for conspiracy theories. However, I'm a soldier and a general; for me, this is simply something I believe we should keep to ourselves as best as we can. With morale so high amongst the men, I'd say it would be silly to let something like this get out too quickly." Antaios stood up to leave.

As Antaios was about to exit the tent, he turned with a smile. "By the way, at the request of the king before he died, he requested that you be made the new faction heir upon his death. You are now second in line for the throne." Antaios bowed a mockingly perfect bow. "Goodnight. Your Highness," and left.

I took a fair few screenshots in this, but I realise that this could mean that it'll be rather slow to load for some people (and really kills the thread for people like myself who like to browse on their phones). I tried to make the images around 100kb in size - if that's too big, let me know and I'll adjust it for future updates. Also, I used the whole "source" tags thing because that seemed to help in my previous AAR.

Now to the opinions of the purpurati:
Sidon is still fairly well defended and will take 6 turns of siege before breaking. In the mean time, my spy has detected at least 2 medium sized Ptolemaic armies and two smaller Ptolemaic armies making their way from the Nile Delta to Hierosolyma. Men are being trained in both Antioch and Damascus, so restrengthening of Aristodikos's army shouldn't be too difficult. My idea at the moment is to leave Sidon for now, restrengthen the army from the two forementioned cities and engage with the Ptolemaic armies heading north. Long term is to form two armies, lead by Aristodikos and Antiaos respectively to take out both Sidon and Hierosolyma at the same time, while a third raised in the Anatolian peninsula (Asia Minor) will take out Side and then Salamis.

That's the West side of my Empire for now. In the East, I am slowly moving troops North in preparation for the expected attack by the Parthians and/or Bactrians - I'm fairly confident that the lands South-East in my empire are safe for now.

So, direct input please: beseige the Ptolemaics now or later? All comments welcome.

[Legio]

Attack now and besiege Ptolemaic dogs!

[poloport]

attack now!

[Xavier Dragnesi]

Took me a while to get all the screens loaded because of my slow internet, but very nice. I vote attack now!

[Dictatorfish]

Took me a while to get all the screens loaded because of my slow internet...

Yeah, sorry about that; I knew when I posted that it was going to be quite taxing on bandwidth for some. Either I can make the images smaller or simply upload fewer screenshots. Any opinions, anyone?

Thanks for the comments so far. It's cool to see the difference in attitudes between this AAR board and the XGM AAR board. In the XGM AAR board, the general feeling so far is to await and attack the enemy armies travelling North first, as opposed to besieging the cities immediately. Admittedly, it's only 2-3 votes from each board so far, so it's not really a great sample of the respective locals.

[Scutarii]

Well, the difference may be that people on this board don't have much/any experience with XGM (not that thats a bad thing, and advice should still be taken into equal account), but with AI bonuses, and more difficult battles, sending a lone under-strength army to besiege a large-ish garrison when you know a couple of half-stacks or so are waiting nearby is not a good idea in XGM, particularly taking into account the large training costs going into retraining an injured army or raising another, and looking at the army its mostly levies, which doesn't help. Vanilla or some other mods is another story.... Not that its impossible.

[Dictatorfish]

In Antioch, a month of mourning was announced for the passing of the king - all festivities were forbidden as every citizen was to pay their respects to the son of their Empire's founder. While his rule was short, King Antiochides brought peace and just rule during his reign. In the few years he ruled, his policy of improving infrastructure for the benefit of every citizen within the Empire made him popular with even those thousands of miles from Antioch and the capital, Seleucia.

Behind closed doors, politics was quick to fill gap left in the throne room. King Antiochides's eldest son, Aristodikos, accended the throne and his adopted son, Aristodikos, the former king's favourite disciple and grandson, was named the next in line for the throne. However, all was not well and - in such times, as that following the death of Alexander, forefather of the Empire - jealousy set it's roots.

In the west, separated from the rest of the Empire, on the Anatolian peninsula, Alexandros - second eldest son of Antiochides - refused to accept that he was now behind an adopted child in line for the throne of the House of Seleucus.

"I will not stand for this!" The echoes of Alexandros's frustrated cry echoed through out his grand personal chambers.
"You have to admit, the man does have some talent when it comes to warfare. I'm sure you must have heard what he did to Helios," Memnon - Alexandros's own adopted son - said casually as he lay on his side on a nearby kline, reading recent letters and documents.
"Ha! Ptolemiac swine have no men amongst their ranks. What is the difficulty in cutting down a man who flees at the sight of you?"
"Well, how about facing up to some real men of honour?" Memnon said, raising himself to a seated position.
"How do you plan to arrange for that?" Alexandros strolled towards the seated Memnon in interest.
"Maybe we won't need to," Memnon replied and handed Alexandros the letter. Alexandros read the letter carefully; it was from the Agelaos, governor of Rhodes, requesting Alexandros accept an audience with a diplomat. "And this one too," Memnon said as he handed Alexandros another letter. It was also from Agelaos, dated two days later.
"He's sent the diplomat already?" asked Alexandros to no one in particular. He continued to read a short while longer. "From this date... the diplomat should arrive fairly shortly. Tomorrow, in fact."
"Piracy on the seas can be such a nuisance for a trade island like Rhodes, don't you agree? I say we see what this diplomat requests and possibly see abouts honouring this alliance between our nations."
Alexandros rolled the letter back into a scroll and handed the scroll to Memnon with a smile. His first smile for days.

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Alexandros turned his horse to assess his makeshift army. Garrisons from Ephesus and Sardis had joined as one unit. Armour and weaponary varied; all equipment was personally owned by the individual, sarrisa were of no standard length and the armour covered all shades from mirror-buffed bronze to blackened, worn out leather. However, at a distant, it made for an impressive sight.

He had travelled South at the behest of the Rhodian diplomat. Pirates from Caria had been targetting merchant ships come to and from Rhodes, driving away traders. Rhodes, too distant for help from her fellow league members, resorted to approaching their geographically closest ally. To Alexandros's great luck and pleasure, their closest ally were the House of Seleucus.

With the aid of Memnon, Alexandros marched his newly formed army South to quell the piracy issues in Caria.

Following the coast of the Aegean Sea, Alexandros closed his eyes briefly, focusing on the touch of the sea breeze upon his face, the smell of the salt water vapour and the sounds of horse trots approaching.
"Not at all shy about performing a show of force, are we now?" Memnon asked rhetorically, slowing his horse as he came along side his adoptive father.
"There's nothing wrong with a gentle march to keep the men in good health."
"Yes, of course, all 2000 of them, I see." Memnon turned his head to watch the lengthy column of infantry marching behind them stretch beyond sight.

Memnon returned his sight ahead of him to see a scout galloping towards them at speed. The scout soon slowed and proceeded to trod along side Alexandros.
"Your highness, there is a small army just West of the city. They seem to be practicing military maneuvers."
"I see. Do you have any clue of what we're facing?"
"Facing, your highness?"
"Ahem. I mean, what exactly does this army consist of?"
"Mainly mercenaries, your highness. Mostly spearmen, but also archers and what I believe to be Cilian pirates. About a thousand men in total, your highness."
Alexandros turned to Memnon and winked, to which Memnon simply rolled his eyes. Alexandros signalled to one of his runners, who ran across quickly and jogged along side his general. "Tell the men that we're to stick to the coast and continue another mile. After that, we'll rest until the noon sun has passed, during which the men will eat and drink until satisfied. Then tell them to prepare for arms."
The runner saluted and turned back to the column. Alexandros had a good feeling that it was very much his lucky day.

"Form up! Close ranks! You will advance in line and form phalanx on my orders!"

The Carians had organised themselves quickly on seeing the approaching army. Alexandros organised his men into a typical Macedonian phalangite line, with doryphoroi guarding the left flank and himself on the right beside the coast.

The Carians were the first to move, advancing rapidly across the flat plain.

"Forward! Quick march!"
The Seleucid line of infantry ran its way steadily towards the Carian mercenary army, denying the enemy archers the time to fire but a few volleys of arrows upon the Seleucids. With only 20 metres between the two armies, Alexandros barked his orders again.
"Phalanx formation! Brace for impact!"



The Carians crashed into the waiting sarissa, the front row pushed into the deadly wall of points by their comrades behind. The entire line of the battle was quickly filled with cries and crashes as the sound of battle filled the air.



On the left flank, the doryphoroi folded the line formation, boxing in the enemy line to prevent any possibility of the phalangites being outflanked and attacking the enemy's own flank. On the right, one unit of phalangites remainined unengaged as the Seleucid line exceeded that of the Carian. On the orders of Alexandros, they too maneuvered themselves to box in the Carian line. Memnon and his unit of bodyguard had galloped his way behind the Carian line and engaged the enemy archers.

At the centre of the battle, on seeing his thureophoroi faltering, the enemy general bravely charged into the Seleucid phalangite line in a bid to break the wall of sarrisa.



On seeing the threat of being outflanked on both sides, the enemy hoplites charged the phalangites on the Seleucid right flank, but Seleucids reformed in time and the hoplites were greeted by a wall of sarrisa points.



Thankfully for the hoplites, their heavy armour allowed some to break through the 5 rows of sarrisa and engage the phalangites on their own terms. Sensing the risk of horrific and unnecessary casualties, Alexandros charged into the rear of the hoplites. Memnon followed suit, his bodyguard trumpeter sounding the charge.



The sound of the trumpet sounded all down the line of battle. At the centre of the battle, on hearing the trumpet call, the enemy general turned to witness his hoplites charged, attacked on three sides. In this momentary distraction, a Seleucid phalangite managed to strike true, thrusting his sarissa into the general's neck. Dropping his sword, the general grabbed his neck with both hands, slid off his horse and was quickly stabbed again as his dying body landed on the blood soaked battleground.



With the loss of their general and outflanked on both sides, the remaining army fled. By then, only a very small handful remained and Alexandros called off the chase. In the distance he had spotted the enemy reinforcements, Halicarnassus's garrison, a single unit of hoplites. He ordered his phalangites to reform their line and quickly engage the hoplites. He had no intending of holding quarter.

The closest phalangites quickly engaged with the hoplites as the remaining Seleucid army continued their march and positioned themselves to completely surround the hoplites.




Completely surrounded the foe and spearpoints, the hoplites had no choice but to fight to the death. But no matter which way they turned, they were always exposed to the slowly enclosing walls sarrisa of the phalangites.



An all mighty cheer erupted as the last hoplite fell and men collapsed all around in exhaustion and relief. The battle was won and Halicarnassus was theirs for the taking.

As Alexandros approached the city, he found the city gates open and the populous greeting him and his men as saviours. Memnon rode up beside the triumphant general and spoke softly.
"You realise that very few of these people are genuinely thrilled at your arrival?"
"Of course," Alexandros replied, waving to the crowds.
"Then why the high spirits? Surely you should be on guard."
"Don't you worry, I am. But the victor writes the histories; just think, in a generation, children will be playing out in the streets, fighting over who plays the part of Memnon the Conqueror, Savior of Halicarnassus."
"Well, I have to say it does have a certain ring to it. And what of yourself?"
"Me? I plan to have other places to visit."
"Other places to have a gentle march to keep the men in good health, father?"
"Heh. Perhaps. In the meantime, we intend to show these people our just and merciful side."
"Understood."

There we go! Update number 2, complete! *flops in chair* Right, I damn well hope you lot appreciate it because this one took ages. For some reason I was sure that this would be shorter than my previous, but no matter; I actually have another battle following this, but I think I'll leave that until the next update (maybe this weekend sometime?).

Obviously, since I already have another update lined up, there's not much chance of me directly responsing to the purpurati's requests, but comments and suggests as to what I should do next in the region will be duly noted. I'll try and quote your comments into the update like I did with the first update (hopefully you were able to identify who was who ).

Until then, plenty of comments, lots of suggestions and - of course - plenty of praise and constructive critisism will be greatly appreciated.

[poloport]

very good

[Legio]

Very nice.

[Dictatorfish]

Thanks guys.

As I said in the XGM thread, I should have the next update up shortly (either today or tomorrow). Watch this space!

Edit: Yeah, obviously it turned out to be a lie. Ah well. Update soon, but I haven't been able to finish it off properly. Still, please enjoy!

[Dictatorfish]

In a small port on the coast of the Mediterranean, Archelaos watched silently as ships bearing the flag of the House of Seleucus slowly came to port and lowered their boarding planks. The entire population of the small fishing village had come to watch the spectacle of the two and a half thousand strong Seleucid army boarding the ships in their tiny, insignificant hometown. As Archelaos watched, a young local boy threw a rock at the passing column of phalangites and was promptly smacked round the head by his father.

Antaios rode up beside the general.
"The locals sure aren't happy about this," Antaios said, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the civilian crowd.
"We're still in Ptolemiac territory, they are still Ptolemiac people."
"At least the men seem in high spirits." Despite the order for a show of discipline, there was excited chatter up and down the ranks. Antaios turned his head, looking up and down the column. "Odd, we seem to have grown considerably in number overnight."
"Upon receiving our orders, I requested for reinforcements for the task ahead. One thousand men joined us from Damascus during the night. Word has it that more in Hatra also wanted to join but wouldn't be able to get here in time."
"Poor bastards," replied Antaios with a grin. "Mind you, damn stupid orders, don't you think?"
"The new king has little experience in warfare, yet his word - however 'damn stupid' - is absolute."
"Are you allowed to say that about our king?!" said Antaios, shocked. Archelaos seemed to ponder over this for a moment.
"He is my father, you know?"
"Even more so!"
"He's my adoptive father and I've not seen him since my acceptance into the royal family," Archelaos stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

They watched as the war elephants, guided by their Indian riders, boarded the ships. The boarding planks strained and bent, as if about to give way at any moment. Miraculously, the boards held and the beast were slowly led into the ships's hold.

There was a brief period of ackward silence.
"Err... as you were the one who granted me my position in the family... does that mean I have to call you... 'father'?"
"Would it be harsh for me to say 'yes'?" Archelaos said with a devious grin.
"I'm three years your senior, boy!" Archelaos didn't reply, rather he simply watched the ships with a smug look upon his face. "Bah. You won't be getting..."
"You know, I never understand this 'royalty' thing." Archelaos interrupted.
"What? We're adopted sons, what do we need to understand it for."
"I'm heir to the empire; it could be useful to at least understand the hereditary system if I end up being crowded king."
"'If'?"
"We're at war, my friend. Poor, rich, young, old; we all die the same."
"As true as you say it, old friend."
"Please, call me 'mba'."

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"Are all the captives held in the town sanctuary?" barked Antiaos at a passing captain.
"Sir, yes sir," responded the captain, snapping a sharp salute. "Everyone who resisted has been held in the sanctuary by cohort IX, Antioch phalangites, sir."
"Good good. Casualties?"
"None, sir, ours or theirs."
"Very good. To your duties."

The captain jogged away to rejoin his unit. Antiaos strolled through the Ptolemiac port town, Seleucid pillaging raging around him. He entered the town hall and took off his heavy breast plate, which was promptly taken away to be cleaned and polished. On the large table which had been dragged into the centre of the hall was a large map - originally hung on the wall in the town governor's chamber - of the surrounding area, which in turn was being studied in great detail by Archelaos.
"Already making yourself feel at home, I see?"
Archelaos ignored the question. "Our spies state that there are four, small Ptolemiac armies in the area. With their main port now under our control and on route towards the border, they would have no choice but to face us. Here." Archelaos tapped his finger on the map, pointing to an area just South of the port town.
"All very good, sir. But why are we here at all? Surely the purpurati wouldn't so foolish as to send us here to simply make a stand and a show of strength."
"It was a compromise. My father's military advisers stressed that the approaching armies should be dealt with as a priority. The aristocrats demanded immediate action. Following our success in our last battle, rather than waiting for them to come to us, I suggested we go to them."
There was a pause as the second-in-command took a moment to let the news settle.
"Well, better you told me now than before - I would have called you mad."
"You wouldn't now?"
"Well we're already here; I still think you're mad, but had you told me before I would have called you mad and persuaded you not to do it."
"Good. Our spies have from reliable sources that the Ptolemiacs armies are already on their way and will be here on the morrow." Another pause. Antiaos looked up at the sky and mumbled. "Hm? What was that?" asked Archelaos.
"I said 'O Athena, lady of reason and wisdom, please forgive the poor lad; he's obviously taken a nasty knock to the head'."
Archelaos jestfully punched Antiaos on the arm. "Are you never serious?" he asked, shaking his head with a smile.
"We'll find out tomorrow, won't we? If my horsemen have to save your sorry hide again..."
"'Again'?"
"Again. Then we will have words."

"If something isn't broken, why fix it?" This was Archelaos reasoning; he argued that it was very unlikely that the coming Ptolemiac army would have had any reports as to the actions of his previous encounter. This seemed reasonable enough to Antiaos and he backed the plan. As before, the phalangite line - commanded by Archelaos himself - would rapidly advance on the Ptolemiacs while the war elephants covered one flank and Antiaos would cover the other with his cavalry division. Only this time, the advantage in numbers lay very much on the side of the Seleucids.

Upon arrival at the battleground, the field sloped from the left down to the right and thus it was agreed that the cavalry would take the left flank.



As Antiaos led his cavalry into position, Archelaos give his final instructions; with the enemy army - led by no less than three of Ptolemy's royal sons - preparing themselves a short distance away, the time for words of encouragement were over.
"Engage quickly and maintain close quarters! We hold the advantage in numbers; do not led the the enemy fall back! Keep them under pressure! Wear them down! We will not relent!"
And at that, the distant horns and rising dust clouds signalled the Ptolemiac advance.



"Foward!"

Seleucid horns sounded in reply and the entire phalangite line surged forwards. As the two lines closed, the sound of trumpets echoed throughout the Ptolemiac line.

Archelaos was shocked by the sound.
"What in Hades?! Phalangites! Halt! Phalanx formation and brace for impact!"



The levy phalangites needed no reminder. All three Ptolemiac generals sounded their charge and galloped, spears at the ready, towards the Seleucid line.

"What are they doing? The fools!"

The Ptolemiac general leading the right wing was the first to reach the Seleucid line and hammered into the left infantry flank.




Very quickly, the Ptolemiac general charged into the center of the Seleucid line, followed quickly by the Ptolemiac general on their left wing.




However, outnumbered and without support, the wings were quickly crushed by counter charges by Antiaos's cavalry...




... and the war elephants.




Before the infantry could even begin to celebrate at the routing of the two generals, Archelaos was already barking out his orders.

"All unengaged units, forwards! Do not let them any chance to retreat!"



The Seleucid flanks surged forwards, crushing any Ptolemiac soldier unfortunate enough to stand in their way. However, desperate to protect their general, the Ptolemiac infantry swarmed into the centre and - while the Seleucid flanks were advancing against little resistance - bitter fighting commenced in the centre.




To his eternal credit, unlike his companions, the Ptolemaic general did not relent and lead by example in the thick of combat.



Despite horrendous casualties, the levy phalangites taking the brunt of the Ptolemiac assault stood their ground. Archelaos and his bodyguard rode in close support, shouting words of encouragement and promises of the greatest rewards. The rapidly thinning phalangite line fought on.

Their sacrifices and bravery had not been for nought. As the Seleucid wings systematically dismantled their opposite numbers, the levy phalangites turned to make their way to surround the fighting Ptolemiac forces in the centre of the battle.

Distracted by the rush of battle, the Ptolemiac general neglected to guard his rear and foolishly allowed him and his remaining forces to be enclosed by a huge Seleucid force.




Only a small number of the Seleucid warriors remained between their general and the remaining Ptolemiac forces, the sense of victory blinded the Ptolemiac general and - hacking his way towards the Seleucid general who he saw as agonisingly close - was completely unaware of the destruction that was making their way towards him.



Soon, as his men began falling all around him in vast numbers, the Ptolemiac general realised his mistake in panic. He looked upon Archelaos pleadingly, but Archelaos saw the bodies of him men litter the ground and returned only a cold, calculated look of absolute lack of empathy.

Realising their fate, the Ptolemiacs fought on, determined to make their last stand one for the histories.




In the struggle, the horse of the Ptolemiac general collapsed under the weight of its wounds and the Ptolemiac son was trampled to death by the horses of his bodyguards and under the boots of the ever advancing Seleucids.




The remaining Ptolemiac soldiers were cut down where they stood, cut down with their general. The battle was over, but the bodies of the dead would remain for years.





The battle was won and clearly so. But that didn't prevent the bitterness that Archelaos felt as he watched the remnants of the XIIIth and IXth cohorts searching for the corpses of lost comrades and old friends.

Antiaos and his cavalry only returned to the Seleucid-controlled port town in the night as the sun was setting. He was greeted by Archelaos at the town gates.
"Missed me, I see," Antiaos said, as he dismounted.
"Pleasant hunting?"
"Both remaining generals escaped. They fled to Hierosolyma; there wasn't much more I could do."
Archelaos remained quiet as their made their way through to the town hall.
"Is something troubling you? It was a very decisive victory and a well fought one, I might add. Are you bothered by the fact you didn't need me to cover your hide again?" This bought a slight smile on the Seleucid heir's face. "There we go. Now tell me what's really been troubling you."
"The men who died today... they will have had family back home?"
"Very likely, old friend. Very likely."
Archelaos was quiet again. Antiaos put his hand on his general's shoulder and they stopped just outside the town hall entrance.
"Speaking as your second-in-command, I'll concentrate on the well being of our men, you concentrate on the well being of the enemy's."
"Thank you, Antiaos."
"And mba, you did well today."

Sorry, but it's been a very busy week and I don't really have the time to finish it off properly. Anyway, as with the whole "interactive" part of this AAR, what do I do now? In particular with Archelaos's army, do follow the remainder of the Ptolemiac army to Hierosolyma, do I head towards Egypt itself or should I pull back and take out the neighbouring Ptolemiac cities first (e.g. Sidon, Salamis, etc.) ? Economy is not that much of an issue at this moment in time, but - as Scutarii pointed out - training and retraining troops for the player can get very expensive (AI don't have these problems due to huge AI bonuses) and TSE start off with very poor infrastructure so levy phalangites are more-or-less my best available infantry at this point in the game.

[Kallum]

nicely going keep up the good work I would pull back and attack modern day palestine/israel so you can savely send troops as reinforcements. but heading towards egypt herself also has advantages as detroying their advanced towns and so their main troop producing centres

[Nevski]

Amazing pictures of thousands of pikes, great battles, hope to see more from you.

[ArchersRule]

Since you only have the one huge army, take Palestine. However, if you have the ability to quickly train a second army and are able to upkeep it for 4 or 5 turns, move the big army into Egypt and use the 2nd army to take Palestine. The 2nd army doesn't even have to be all that huge, since it looks like the garrisons are small, and there are no big armies waiting to ambush it.

[Dictatorfish]

"A few possibly important posts from the XGM thread" part 1:

Hey there. I'm not going to write it all up again, but the post wasn't actually an update as such. I was basically saying that while lots and lots have been going on, nothing update worthy had happened. Because of this, I've now played up to the Summer of 270BC. Here's a quick summary of the recent events:

• Now at war with Pontis, Armenia and Baktria,
• Persians - allies of the three above and The Ptolemiac Empire ("TPE") - are about to attack Merv
• The following cities are under constant siege:
  
  • TPE: Sidon, Damascus
  • Pontis: Tarsus, Hatra, Amida
  • Armenia: Arbela, Ecbatana, Zadrocarta
  • Baktria: Merv, Phra, Neh
  
  
• The following cities are now part of TSE:
  
  • Side, Salamis, Galatia
  
  

Now despite all this, all the battles have been either:

1. Minor skirmishes,
2. Siege defenses by a small number of phalangites against hordes of low-quality infantry, which always go like this:
   
   • Place phalangites in key choke points,
   • Click the start battle button,
   • Cross fingers, going "pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease..."
   
   
3. Badly one-sided siege assaults.

I usually get about two of the above mentioned siege defence battles per click of the "End Turn" button due to all the cities under constant siege. Wishing this to be a battle orientated AAR, this does not make for good reading (not for me, anyway). There have been a few clashes but they run exactly the same as the previous battles I've written reports for and I could easily copy-paste all the test and simple change the links for the screenies. Again, boring!

Anyway, I do have the screenies; if you guys are interested, I'll post them up so you can see what I've already mentioned above. On request, I'll post up a few screenies of the battle statistics so you get what I mean by my believe that siege defense is boring and way too easy with phalangites as your garrison. For now, I'll continue playing this campaign, posting whenever something truly interesting (and preferably new) comes along.

Sorry if I disappointed (or am disappointing) anyone.

[Dictatorfish]

"A few possibly important posts from the XGM thread" part 2:

Yeah, I know, but after my experience with the Scythian AAR I really wanted to avoid anything repetitive. Unfortunately for me, I like to win and - while not a bad loser - I hate losing more than anything else I can think of. So when I come across a strategy that works, I make sure to make use of it.

Anyway, I've finally come across something update worthy: it seems that the AI has discovered the echelon formation!

All to be revealed in the next update!

The echelon formation thing got a nice response, so I followed up shortly with this:

Sorry to get your hopes up, guys, but I'm sure it was by coincidence rather than by design. It was still very cool to experience, though, whether it was by chance or choice.

Finally, before I go to bed, I looked through my screenies folder and dragged out a few of the siege defences so you guys could take a look at why I consider them so boring and non-update-worthy. There were more, but I was missing one of the three screenshots (I must have forgotten to take them; I do that on an annoying regular basis ):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

And now to bed. I'll start the write up for the update tomorrow but real life and real job get in the way of Dictatorfish having fun.

Good night, all!