The 300 don't hold a candle
Having sent one of my Greek family members into the central european wilderness in search of mercenaries, he had the misfortune to end his movement points next to a previously hidden rebel army of some 1400 troops.
Playing any other faction this may have been little worry, as the mounted general unit, could simply run around the map waiting for the battle timer to expire. My Greek general, however, is so rooted in his hoplite tradition that, even faced with an army of 1400, his 74 man bodyguard would rather dismount and face this enemy, than beat a well advised retreat.
Being the good honest gamer I am, I did not think twice, but played the cards as they had been dealt. Playing the battle manually, I positioned my single unit far to the back of the field, hoping the barbarians will tire themselves on their way to me, and, perhaps, suffer more casualties. As the battle commences I decide to position my single unit right up against the red line directly at the AI line of retreat; should my troops think better of their stand, perhaps my family member will be able to escape?
Arranging my troops in a phalanx 2 deep, with their backs to the wall, I have done all I can do for these men, and I press the x3 speed button. Barbarian horde after barbarian horde slam into the line of spears, interspersed with light horse charges, yet the hoplites refuse to take the sensible option of running away. One by one, the general's guard is picked off from the edges. It is quite an entertaining sight, but then my attention was piqued when I noticed a mere 5 minutes remaining on the battle timer. My general was down to 60% of his bodyguard, but he barbarians were down to 40% their initial strength, and with time running out!
As the last few minutes passed by, the barbarians became exhausted, the hoplites's casualties grew less frequent, and, finally, the barbarians gave up the fight and ran. The battle finished with an heroic victory for the Greeks, with 36 out of 74 greek troops surviving the battle, and less than 400 of the initial 1400 barbarians dispersing into the woods.
Now that was something; that was entertainment!
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