The Bottomless Pit (Chap. 65 - Fin.)

[Alavaria]

Chapter 27: End Of A State

Agesipolis: Once we send in the pikemen, any organized resistance will be crushed under their sarissas.
Pelops: You have a great deal of faith in these newfangled troop types.
Agesipolis: The word is modern.

Agesipolis: Send in the Ekdromoi, I don't want to deal with their pikemen head on.
Machanidas: They will clear the way, get your pikemen ready and let's see how they do!

Levy Pikeman: Spartans!!
Levy Pikeman: I thought there were only 300 of them...
Levy Pikeman: Wait, what is that?!

The Spartan Forces' pikemen have arrived on the scene! With Ekdromoi clearing the various buildings on either side of the road, the pikemen take the straight route, right into the thickest enemy resistance.

It is a brutal shock for those who had not expected to see sarissas used by the militarily "backward" Spartan state.

A group of mounted javelinmen attacked, however their missiles were ineffective against the pikemen's anti-missile fields.

Their short spears were ineffective as well.

But wait, now the enemy general has arrived, and what is this?! His horsemen easily break into the dense formation and start stabbing away with their heavy lances.

This was completely unexpected!

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 28: 

Chapter 28: Anti-Enemy Fields Failed

The situation was dire; Agesipolis' pikemen were falling before the thrusting xyston of the Nearchos' bodyguards. Greeks nowadays really loved really heavy cavalry...

Even the enemy slingers attack with their knives, doubtless encouraged by the leadership of their general. Something must be done!

Agesipolis, Machanidas, Pelops and even the general who came with the pikemen all had a bodyguard of elite heavy hoplites, as was traditional. These four units at once charged into the fray like in a battle of legend.

Like legend, the enemy, heavily outnumbered, was defeated by the thrusting spears of Spartan hoplites (and some elite perioikoi hoplites, of course). Wait, that doesn't seem right...

The rest of the enemy soon succumbed, in short order. A bloody victory.

For them.

Spoiler for Details: 

I actually have no clue what happened so that those guys got all those kills. I think the bodyguard units were massacring peltasts, archers and so on near the end of the battle. You'll notice Agesipolis had like 100 men in his unit at the start of the battle, pretty sizeable.

The pointless Maceonian rebellion was ended.




After the battle, Agesipolis and his generals took a while to analyze what had happened. It seemed that the pikemen's anti-missile anti-enemy field was not, as they had imagined, a directly lethal one.

Rather, it worked by repelling the enemy; in formation and en masse, this meant that the wall of sarissas essentially was like a wall, stopping javelins and arrows in their tracks. Similarly, infantry and light horse could not push through the field, and any cavalry foolish enough to charge it head on would smash themselves against it, or at best push through and die on the spearpoints. So far so good...

Heavy cavalry had enough mass that they could, in close formation and probably at a walk, easily penetrate the anti-enemy field. Combined with their superior armor, which frequently covered the mount amazingly well from the front, they could simply trot through the anti-enemy field and even though the pikes, bringing the pikemen within rangeof their two-handed xyston (though the vase paintings still show them being used with one hand...)


The only real answer was heavy spearmen. Or a massive amount of lighter ones.

Or just shooting into the middle of a compromised formation.

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for History 5: 

"History" 5: Future Pikemen

Establishing battlefield control, standby

Commander, you have been selected for command of a unit of the Empire's line infantry. This basic course-in-simulation serves to acquaint you with the details of commanding such a force.


While pikemen may see some use in a Police Force under level 2 escalations, the majority of our units currently under arms are deployed to the Eastern Line under the various Banner Armies. It is critical that you be able to handle your unit effectively in a large combined arms force.

Not unlike the phalangites who served the ancient Empire, your "Pikemen" line infantry are fully equipped to stand against enemy hordes, provided they maintain a disciplined formation.


Their standard panoply consists of the "Sarissa" heavy line infantry weapon systems, complete with the "Phalanx" anti-missile and anti-enemy field generator. A pairing of the "Pelte" personal defense shield and "Pilos" ballistic helmet provide an acceptable level of "hard" protection.

Your line infantry are only equipped with light or medium armor, in order to maintain a minimum level of mobility with their heavy weaponry. Along with a minimal personal defensive loadout, it is recommended that they not be maneuvered except in formation when enemies are nearby.

For this simulation, you will be opposed by a force of the Macedonian terrorist group, "The Companions". In particular, pay attention to their "Thurophoroi" medium infantry, which you may be familiar with.

Enemy units armed with ranged weapons such as the short-range "Javelin" infantry support weapon can be quite deadly against many infantry types, however the "Phalanx" system will allow your Pikemen to absorb this attack with minimal casualties. As these weapons are used pre-charge, it is important to close any gaps quickly before the enemy can initiate close quarter combat.

You are taking command of a unit on the right. Form a phalanx and withstand the enemy missile attack and following charge.

A support unit, armed with the medium-range "Sling" infantry support weapon will provide assistance in the battle, provided you can keep the enemy occupied.

If your infantry must resort to sidearms, they will be unable to maintain the Phalanx field, making the formation liable to a catastrophic disintegration. Do not let this happen.

Similarly, advancing too quickly over uneven terrain will cause the formation to be disrupted, which makes your men extremely vulnerable to an enemy charge.

Even a fairly thin formation of pikemen can be very effective at holding the line. You must judge carefully if depth is necessary, in many cases, a wider front may be necessary to hold you position without being flanked.

A well-ordered formation also provided protection from the possibility of "friendly fire". For line units, maintaining Phalanx is important, unlike for lighter units emphasizing mobility, positioning or ranged firepower.

Ranged support units will take care of most offensive actions. In particular, attacking the command squad is best done from range.

As part of Advanced Light Infantry training, you were familiarized with flanking and flank guard actions. As a commander of a pikemen unit, you will provide the opportunities for your lighter comrades, by holding the line against a direct enemy assault.

Mission accomplished.

Your second mission will be in an attack on an enemy Banner Army equivalent. You will be familiarized with holding position in the middle of a "pike line", as well as how to advance in good order with the rest of the battle line.



Pelops: Man, I just had the weirdest dream...
Machanidas: Tell me about it, I'm worried about what forces the Macedonians might have left...
Machanidas: By the way, Agesipolis tells me he wants you to take command of our critical center units of pikemen if we take to the field.
Pelops: Ah...

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 29: 

Chapter 29: The Plot Thickens

Machinaidas: Tecton, you are from Actium, did I hear correctly?
Tecton: You heard correctly General.
Machinaidas: How did you come to lead Agesipolis' first force of pikemen?

Tecton: Ah, that is quite a story.
Tecton: The Macedonians were recruiting men for their pikemen forces, as well as recruiting recruiters and training trainers.
Tecton: They were preparing for another round of hostilities with the Romans.

Machinaidas: Wait a moment, Agesipolis said they were preparing to invade us.
Tecton: Well, who knows. Maybe it was a cover story, or... well I don't know.
Machinaidas: ...

Tecton: When we heard Spartans were marching up the west coast, we were told that they were on their way to aid us in the fight against the barbarians.
Machinaidas: But then what happened?
Tecton: Some of the Macedonians wanted to fight Sparta as they had in the past. Our general ordered us to disband.

Tecton: We were picked up by Agesipolis' men and sent to Sparta as part of the Retribution One project.
Machinaidas: So there was fighting.
Tecton: Further north, perhaps. And holdouts, always.
Tecton: But a lot of the forces sent to contain the Romans were rather supportive of Agesipolis' claim to Hegemon.

Machinaidas: That's why he was so confident... an excellently organized plan.
Machinaidas: But tell me more about the Romans.
Tecton: They're not unlike the Persians of old; barbarians on Greek lands.
Tecton: Once united, we can drive them back across the waters, and claim our revenge on their homelands.

Machinaidas: Is that what Agesipolis promised?
Tecton: I have no idea.
Machinaidas: We're supposed to be Friends of Rome.
Tecton: Yes, I heard Sparta supported those against Macedon, such as Rome in the past.
Tecton: This sort of story also occurred when the Persians attacked us.

Tecton: Speaking of him, where did General Agesipolis go?
Machinaidas: He said intelligence had come in that the Romans were preparing to attack us.
Machinaidas: Due to our alliance with the Macedonians (well, the rebels aside).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 30: 

Chapter 30: Radiation Shielding

There were multiple discussions going on in Sparte after the Spartan Coalition sent north several units to assist Agesipolis with the ambitious Operation Cast a Protective Lead Edge.

A small fleet from Athenai was retasked with transport and logistics. The moment it left its blockade of the Chalkis Strip, Macedonian terrorists began crossing the border with theit sights set on Athenai. However for their dreams of a united Macedonian Empire, it was of course too late....

A number of military minds were discussing the potential Roman threat. Agesipolis had brought in quite a number to strengthen the Coalition's military ability. One of the earliest "foreigners" was Menestas, from Athenai, and an enthusiastic supporter of Agesipolis' dream of a unified Greek people.

For this reason, he had opposed the Macedonian conspiracy against Sparta, but was quite happy to welcome Agesipolis' Macedonian supporters. And he was very worried about the news of the heightened Roman presence on Greek lands.

The Coalition Economic Council found themselves in a very good mood as the accounts are compiled. Not only had a great deal of taxes, tribute and so on come in, their sweeping mandate to build and develop was not hampered much by military spending.

In fact, Agesipolis had agreed to let the diplomats sign a new trade agreement with Rome, despite all the "security concerns".

Only non-military goods were traded, of course. Though, this was insisted upon by the Romans, who apparently had far too many sets of mail armor and heavy shields lying about...

Though the seperatist Macedonians were still skulking about Pella and other major cities, the threat level was fairly low, for now.

A serious ground offensive was taking place on the narrow strip of island where Chalkis sat. Here, a serious force of Macedonian fanatics prepared to fight for Macedonian glory against Sparta. But this would not be like the war their dead king had planned.

Sparta was here in force.


As part of his shrewd plan, Agesipolis carefully removed himself from the scene in Sparte, leaving it to a number of trusted and carefully instructed supporters to push his agenda stealthily.

Indeed, getting a second force assembled to attack Chalkis was not really the reason he had left Machinaidas' army. Rather, having raised a force clearly under him, the momentum could be harnessed, if somehow a new pressing threat were to materialize...

The Macedonians tried to resist, but it was hopeless. This time, the Spartan force had the crushing weight of numbers to its advantage. The Macedonians who decided to stand and fight faced a future full of being run through like so many animals for roasting over a campfire.

It seemed some of the Athenians who were loudest about finding a solution had somewhat... overstated the strength of the rebels on Chalkis island. Of course they also were very appreciative that Agesipolis was leading such a critical effort in person.

They may have invented pikemen, but Sparta would master it, as it had the hoplite. The Spartans would stop for nothing, and were poised to run Macedonians back to their foxholes in Chalkis.

Anyway, while the battle was shaping up to become a bloody path all the way to Chalkis...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(In Sparte)

One of the Macedonian generals from what was the west of the Macedonian kingdom was informing the gathered military council about the Roman buildup near Dyrrhachium.


It was very much the case, he exclaimed, that the generals of Rome had for a long time intended to increase their land claims on Greek soil, and needed only a suitable excuse. One that occurred when the Peloponnesian League II forces began to march against Macedon.

Rome had never expected the forces under Agesipolis and Machanidas to so swiftly drive into the heart of the Macedonian empire.

Certainly, suggested another, the Romans were in a difficult position, facing a unified Greek Hegemony (coalition, corrected another) that would not hand over land to them. Therefore they needed to fabricate an occasion to "defend themselves".

According to Macedonian spies among the Romans, the occasion was this: they would claim to have been attacked by Macedonian terrorists, and then in self-defense, take over several of the nearby settlements.

But here, the lie would fall apart, because the western half of the Macedonian lands were very much in support of the Coalition, and in fact the separatists had fled east.


Wait! shouted one of those gathered there. Had not the Romans landed more men in order to assist the League, due to having not much earlier fought against the Macedonians? This sparked off some arguments.

And the Romans talk of how they will help us and protect us. They put us to sleep with golden promises. When we wake all we have is gone, stolen!

There was some shouting at this point.


Why then, were the Romans landing even more men, according to reports? The one who had first spoken in support of the Romans had no response to this.

"There's a simple reason," added a new voice. "That man is a Roman collaborator. The Romans know where our forces are, and think they can carry out a quick landgrab and then manufacture something (like what was described) to hang onto it."


Everyone looked about for the decidedly non-Greek and non-masculine speaker.


"Who the hell is this?" someone shouted. It was the Roman apologist. "This is a closed session!"

"If you want to know someone's name, ask more civilly," she replied. Though oddly enough, waiting until after everyone had realized she was sitting in the middle of them. "Even if you don't know me, many of you know of me. I am the Ruthless Seeing One, the Deity of Unnumbered Wings."


"Whoa!" shouted one of Agesipolis' young officers. "You're Aa?" (It is pronounced A-a, not aah, aaaa or whatever)

"Wait, I thought the cult of Aa referred to Ares & Athena."


"Do I look like Athena? Don't make stupid comments."

"First of all, why isn't Agesipolis here, and where did he go?"

"He's, uh... pacifying Chalkis to the north of Athenai. It will probably be a long process, he didn't specify an exit strategy to keep the region stable."

"What? I don't have time for that."

"There's a reason I'm called t... one moment, I'll be back."

She abruptly disappeared.

"Ok, that's done with. When he gets back, send him up north with whatever you can give him. A straight sail up the west coast will do."

"How will that help the Roman situation?"

"I've already told him, he will explain once he returns."

[Doge Almighty]

dat chapter title though, funny ep as usual ^^

[Alavaria]

The joke is that in the distant future, "firepot" is used to refer to tactical nuclear shells for long-range artillery.

Which is used with a certain level of abandon... against terrorists. Take a look at the fake news intro for this mission.


They also name unit types, weapons, vehicles etc after units and war engines used in RS2. For instance a popular battle rifle brand is "Sarissa", while the "Ziphos" pistol is a common sidearm.

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 31: 

Chapter 31: Unilateral

Machinaidas: What?
Machinaidas: How can they just declare a ceasefire?
Messenger: They claim to be the Kingdom of Philipoupolis, not the Macedonian Empire. So we're not at war.

Machinaidas: This is ridiculous. See, they even use the Macedonian colors and banners.
Messenger: Nevertheless they have apparently ended our blockade of their new capital.

Machinaidas: This is... ok, you there. Get me *these* things, and hurry.
Quartermaster: Shouldn't be hard to find, but what do we need such odd supplies for?

Machinadas: We're going to properly declare war. That way we don't have to let them hit us before we attack.
Officer: But do we have time? Their terrorists are already preparing to cross the border and escape!
Machinadas: As long as we don't take more than six months, we'll catch them...

Machinadas: Aha! See, they ARE Macedon in the end.

Machinadas: See? Perfect. Let us now carry out our properly recognized war...

Machinadas: With MAXIMUM use of force. Forward!

The Macedonians formed up into a standard formation with their pikemen to the front in a strong line, and lighter infantry concentrated on the flanks to provide support.

Our attempts at probing these flanks were hindered by the forests, as well as their javelins. Damn Thureophoroi.

Our strategy is simple, one that Phillip of Macedon would recognize more than that of the Macedonians, his descendents. We will prepare for a meeting of the lines, and swiftly gain the flanks.

Machinadas: Tenton, I'm assigning you to the right flank. Pelops will take the left.

While the Spartan line advanced, the Macedonian general mistook Pelop's units for a flanking maneuver. Of course, he didn't know the usual order of battle was to wait for lines to be committed before flanking.

Regardless, as this maneuvering was taking place, part of the Macedonian force was engaged by the advancing Spartan right... the battle had begun in earnest!

Although the Macedonian right was in disarray, they were not engaged. Pelops quickly pulled his forces behind the pike line.

Tenton was preparing to move though the forests for a flank maneuver on the Macedonian support infantry. However, most of the enemy was still unengaged...

(The arrow marks a unit of the Thureophoroi support infantry. They are behind the slingers.)


As Machinaidas moves reserves over to the right, Tenton finds his slingers are having difficulty taking down the Macedonians. He opts for a bold move to try and move around to their rear.

However, unlike his expectations, lines had not met, and a great deal of the Macedonian force could still be deployed...

Tenton's flank maneuver was spotted as soon as they left the cover of the forest, and the Macedonians (who were about half engaged at this point) tried to defend their flank.

The Spartans kept on maneuvering their skirmishers as support infantry engaged the Macedonian flank defenders.

At first, it seemed victory was at hand. The Macedonian thureophoroi were standing strong against their Spartan counterparts, but once the slingers were in position on their flank, they began to fall!

Oh no, they have elite falx troops! This was completely unexpected!

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 33: 

Chapter 32: Fakeout

Tenton sneezed. The shade under these trees was nice, but it was also a bit chilly.


Tenton: Are those... falxmen?
Officer: I think so, but they're running, not charging.
Tenton: Oh? That's fine then.


Indeed, his slingers had started cutting though the armored figures with abandon. Though these elite troops did have small bucklers, it was not at all suitable to surviving a barrage of high-velocity stones.

The Macedonian left was collapsing, even as their reserves were being killed by even more slingers.

With his slingers flanking the enemies attacking his flanking-unit-guards ((( the Thureophoroi were guarding the slingers who were the actual flanking force, when these were attacked, the slingers moved to flank those attackers, while reserves moved to a flank the main line and keep shooting))).

The enemy general tried to run for it, but before Machinaidas could even notice, let alone order his horse to give chase, the slingers swiftly took down the running Macedonian.

With their right undefended, Pelops' flanking attack (when he realized the enemy did not have any flank guards, instead of just holding them back) was unopposed. In fact, Tenton's men had pretty much ended all Macedonian resistance by this point. Pelops' men simply moved into the ideal killing position directly behind the enemy... except there were hardly any targets left.

You can see here that while Pelops' men are able to shoot the right of the Macedonian agema (who had pushed the Spartan pikemen back, or rather caused the unit to turn), Pelops' men are perfectly positioned. It won't be long now for the terrorists to realize..

It's the end of their rebellion.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Pelops: Congratulations, you now command an entire army!
Machinaidas: What was I just doing earlier?!

Machinaidas: Anyway, initiate Operation Countervalue!
Pelops: What does that mean?
Machinaidas: I don't have a clue, that's what Aa called it.

Pelops: I get the impression those arrows are just bouncing off their cloth tunics.
Machinaidas: No, that's basically what happens.
Pelops: Why are we still paying these archers...
Machinaidas: Apparently flaming arrows are scary even if they're not likely to hurt you.

Pikemen: Javelins!
Officer: Make sure to tighten your formation so the sarissas will block them!

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 33: 

Chapter 33: Warcrimes

Machinaidas: Lady have mercy, there's a damn lot of these terrorists still left.
Officer: Our pikemen need support!
Machinaidas: Pelops, take several units of the hoplites and have them sweep the houses nearby.
Machinaidas: Tenton, have some of your pike reserves reinforce our men at the breach.

Tenton: Men, prepare to enter the settlement! I want a high density phalanx on that wall road!

Pelops: Won't these houses be filled with civilians?
Machinaidas: Don't be an idiot. If they're still here, it's obvious they've decided on final resistance.
Machinaidas: Any one of them could be armed and deadly, clear them out with the sword.
Pelops: ... understood.

Machinaidas: Also, hurry, I want to make sure any enemies coming down the road will have to deal with our missiles from the houses.
Pelops: Right, I will send some skirmishers with the hoplites.

Certainly, the Macedonians had been busy arming for a last-ditch fight in their stronghold. Somehow, they had enough pikes to attempt forming a proper unit, in hopes of breaking up the Spartan advance. However, with the help of Tenton's soldiers, the enemy were not able to penetrate the Spartan line, and were forced to attempt a retreat.

In the disarray, many would-be pikemen decided to find hiding places in the nearby houses, but were of course caught and killed by Pelops' urban hoplites (these were some of the veterans of earlier urban battles in Pella and Thessalonike.)

The fighting was brutal, but unlike earlier battles against garrisoned Macedonian forces, this time Sparta had the momentum. The Macedonians could not handle such battle, while the flexibility of Agesipolis' hoplite & skirmisher doctrines very clearly held the day.

The enemy general, with his picked horsemen, tried to... something, hard to say. But he was caught and killed.


The likihood, however, is that a slinger killed him from a balcony with a shot that went through his neck. Though he was also run through by several hoplites, just to be sure.

At this time, Pelops began thinking of a more sophisticated type of unit, some sort of "urban cohort" concept combining light armor (good against small weapons), a medium round shield (providing some protection from missiles, but still being light and maneuverable enough for urban hand-to-hand combat) and short javelins (eventually, the dart) which would allow the infantryman an option to engage at range. More specialized units with heavier (longer) javelins and perhaps short slings or bows would increase the ranged capability of the units.

A lot of the "hoplites" had already switched to using a pelte-style shield (borrowed from skirmishers) and their sword for urban enviroments. They could use a slightly longer sword (now the primary weapon, instead of a backup) and a heavier shield (for heavy hand-to-hand combat)...

During lulls in the Macedonian attack, more pikemen joined the front, as hoplites and skirmishers began fanning out through the houses ahead of them. Despite the frontline quiet, the "battle" continued against the citizens in their houses.

The final resistance came in the form of a well-drilled unit of chosen pikemen. They met a similar fate to the rest of the Macedonian terrorists that they had chosen to help defend.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Machinaidas: How are losses?
Pelops: Our casualties are less than 10%, only counting the killed or permanently prevented from battle.
Pelops: Confirmed losses among the terrorist fighters... almost total. It seems they largely fought to the last man.
Pelops: as for the non-combatants....

Machinaidas: I take it there won't be any more Macedonian extremists from this settlement.

Pelops: That's one way to put it.
Pelops: Our urban warfare units were extremely thorough in eliminating any potential threats.
Pelops: I think the only Macedonians alive in this region are the ones outside these walls.

Machinaidas: Well, the imperialists would have had nothing left to fight, or indeed live for, anyway...
Aa: Excellent job, generals. Beautifully executed.
Pelops: In more ways than one.
Aa: Indeed, glad to see Laconic wit is alive.

Aa: Please, take your time to properly loot. You will soon receive some instructions from Agesipolis.
Aa: Do not worry about having to return to Sparte, for reinforcements or otherwise.
Aa: Have faith.

Machinaidas could not get a word in before she disappeared.

Pelops: I'm never going to get used to her.
Machinaidas: When did you meet her? Last time we talked about the subject, you didn't even know she existed.
Pelops: Oh, a day or two before the assault she dropped into my tent for a bit.
Pelops: Though apparently the guards outside heard nothing of our conversation...

Machinaidas: Yes, you were probably asleep, or having a vision, something like that.
Machinaidas: I think she's only appeared "in the flesh" to Agesipolis.
Pelops: Such are the ways of gods, I suppose. Now, let's see if the men can find us some decent Macedonian wine.

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 34: 

Chapter 34: Byzantine Greeks

Machinaidas: "Just keep going east until something stops you," is it?
Machinaidas: Tenton, do you think we'll get as far as Alexander did?
Tenton: What if we never stop, what is past the Selucids?
Machinaidas: Whoa, I... don't really know.


Meanwhile, in the west...

Sailors: Thank goodness, we've spotted land at last!
Agesipolis: Phew, quick start unloading what we have before the boats collapse from all the damage they took.
Agesipolis: That was quite a storm, where are we?


Scout: It seems there is a mass grave ahead of Cartheginians and Iberians.
Agesipolis: This must be where Hannibal was defeated, so that makes it...
Agesipolis: Cannae.

Polydoros, Agesipolis' son, was chosen to lead a small group to search for Agesipolis, when it was found that his peacekeeping force had gone missing. They began searching the coast of Greece but found nothing.

It appeared that his father had disappeared without any trace...

Pelops: Seems we're clear all the way to "Byzantion".
Machinaidas: Apparently this is quite an important settlement, though I'm not sure why.
Pelops: They have no chance of turning into a Byzantion Empire though, so they might as well bow before us!

The citizens of Byzantion disagreed, and began arming themselves to fight for their independence.

Tenton: Men, form a loose phalanx near the walls!
Pelops: What are those pikemen doing?
Tenton: Catching javelins.
Pelops: ???

Machinaidas: Alright, this is our plan. Hoplites will assault the breach, with support from the slingers.
Tenton: Not sending in pikemen?
Machinaidas: Initially, no. Pelops will continue to handle support, you lead the hoplites.
Machinaidas: Keep your reserve pikemen ready though, they will have a role to play.

Machinaidas: Order the archers to try and hit any missile troops the enemy might have.
Archer: Wait, how are we supposed to see them if they are behind the wall?
Machinaidas: Just shoot everywhere! It isn't like the arrows do much anyway...

Tenton: We're commencing the assault!
Pelops: Ready when you are!
Thureophoroi: Charge through the breach!

Machinaidas: We should have a good idea of where they are now, archers take them down!
Tenton: Hoplites, reinforce them! We mustn't lose control of the breach.

For most of the enemy, their training and most of their equipment was irrelevant, as Pelops' carefully positioned slingers shot armor-piercing stones right into their back (or flank).

The combined missile attacks of his chosen skirmisher units ripped though the air, shredding the enemy infantry apart in scores.

To ease the pressure on his frontline units, Tenton send some other hoplites to block off one of the main roads before enemies arrived. Fortunately for them, they were able to form up before said enemies.

As that point was being contested, he began pushing pikemen through a small secondary breach between the two groups of infantry. However, the men at the main breach could not clear it enough for a pike formation to reinforce them.

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 35: 

Chapter 35: Nothing Left To Conquer?

Tenton: Damn it, why are pikemen so terrible against horsemen?
Tenton: It says they have bonus vs cavalry, for goddess' sakes!
Pelops: Probably due to the fact the sarissas' anti-enemy field is calibrated to stop humans, not humans on horses.

Pelops: At least our slingers are somewhat effective.
Pelops: Even though those Athenians never managed to reverse-engineer the enemy's javelin technology.
Tenton: At least we have Armor-Piercing Rock technology.

Tenton: I just... how do you men even pass pikemen certification like that?!
Pikemen: No, this is a practical application of Agesipolis' Theory of Forming Phalanxes!
Tenton: Does it kill enemies?
Pikemen: Yes.
Tenton: ... then proceed.


(It will in fact kill enemies. The AI somehow triggers this rather frequently, but as the player you can also get good use of it.
Re-forming phalanx will frequently get your men to deliver a lot of back-attacks on enemies, usually a couple of thrusts before they switch back to the sword. This can be pretty deadly to light units, or horsemen.)

Hoplites: I think they have finally stopped attacking!
Pelops: Finally. Let's go!

Tenton: Pikemen! Form up and start moving down the streets.
Pelops: All light units prepare to clear the area!

The area was cleared.

Throughly.

Spoiler for Details: 

Pelops: With that, we have pretty much unified the Greeks?
Tenton: Even Phillip of Macedon would have to admit that was rather impressive.

Machinaidas: We are by no means done, though.

Machinaidas: Look there, across the Hellespont
Machinaidas: The rest of the Successors await.
Pelops: Do we really have to...?

Machinaidas: As a Spartan, of all peoples, I would have expected you to know better.
Machinaidas: For what reason, war?


Next time: Spartan Philosophy of War??

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 36: 

Chapter 36: For What Reason, War?

(^^ This is pretty great, click link)

Note: The following discussion has nothing to do with the battle as it took place earlier.
Pelops was recalled to Sparte; we will see later on what exactly happened, but it is why he was not present.

Machinaidas: And what is this path, this meaning, this purpose to which we gather the skulls of our foes?
Pelops: Is this some Athenian philosophical question? I don't know...
Machinaidas: It is nothing. There is no meaning, no purpose.

Machinaidas: We murder, we kill, it is mindless savagery.
Machinaidas: Humanity exists to conquer or be conquered.
Machinaidas: This universe is mindless.

Machinaidas: Did you really think that, just because we performed the Rite of Declaring War, that somehow it was rightous to cut down anyone at all?
Pelops: Isn't that the purpose of the ritual?
Machinaidas: No, it is mere declaration of intent; the divines consider the issue one of protocol, not justification by rite.
Machinaidas: That's why they are displeased if we murder helots, but not if we declare war first.

Machinaidas: In our wars, billions will die, innocent, guilty, strong and weak, honest and deceitful, all of them.
Machinaidas: They will scream, they will burn, and for no reason but that Our Lady ordered their blood shed.
Machinaidas: That is our righteous cause.

Pelops: Billions?! Are there even that many people alive?
Machinaidas: The number, as their persons, is irrelevant.
Machinaidas: We exist to overcome our enemies. Our enemies exist to be overcome by us.
Machinaidas: For us, the reason they stand in the way is for our inevitable victory!

Machinaidas: This is why we Spartans are the greatest of the Greeks.
Machinaidas: We devote ourselves to war.

Machinaidas: The purpose of war is victory.
Machinaidas: The purpose of arms is war.

Machinaidas: The purpose of men is to bear arms.
Machinaidas: The purpose of industry is to create arms.
Machinaidas: The purpose of research is to develop arms.

Machinaidas: If we had one weakness, it is that we spent our strength preparing for war, instead of going out to it.
Machinaidas: This can no longer be counted against us.

Spoiler for Details: 

Officer: General, the city is taken!
Machinaidas: Set it all ablaze, we march tomorrow.
Officer: But the men need their rest...
Machinaidas: Not quite, however:

Machinaidas: Enemies! We need enemies!

Scout: General, we have spotted banners to the south!

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 37: 

Chapter 37: For Any Reason, War

Roman Diplomat: King Agesipolis of Sparta, foreign armies are not permitted on Roman territories.
Roman Diplomat: We must ask your force to leave our lands immediately!
Agesipolis: Oh my, what should we do...

Tensions were high.

War broke out!!

Tenton: Why are we picking a fight with the Ptolemaics?!
Machinaidas: Because they are weak.

Machinaidas: They do not deserve these territories on Asia Minor.
Machinaidas: And of course, eventually we will venture into Egypt...
Tenton: That is quite a ways away!
Machinaidas: Spartan arms indeed have quite a distance to conquer.


Meanwhile, in Sparte: an emergency League meeting was taking place.

Macedonian General: You cannot simply abandon us to the Romans!
Theban General: This is not a fight we started!
Athenian General: However, those lands are not merely "Macedonian," but part of the League.
Macedonian General: That is right, do you want to wait until they march down here?
Theban General: Remember your place at this table, you can't command us.

Spartan General: We were warned of this.
Pelops: Either the Romans think they can play us for fools, or perhaps they think they can defeat us.
Pelops: In both of these things, they are wrong.

Hilarious but relevant.

And as the third member of the Spartan Trio stood before his generals, Aa watched her flawless manipulation take place....

Athenian General: For glory's sake.
Macedonian General: For vengeance's sake.
Aa: War!!

Theban General: Wait... since Macedon is not formally part of the League, but here only due to their recognition of King Agesipolis' claim to Hegemon...
Everyone: Right, where is Agesipolis?!


Meanwhile, in Italy...

Agesipolis: We have come here to this place, been led here to this place, by her grace.
Agesipolis: Our Lady of Unnumbered Wings, see now these chosen spears at the throat of the enemy.

Agesipolis: War!!

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 38: 

Chapter 38: Rhodian Lead Bullets

Take note, "Quintus Fabius Maximus" also appears in the Syracuse campaign. In that one, he actually retreated north due to the suddenness of the Syracuse attack. In the Spartan story, there has been no takeover of Southern Italy, so many legions are still around the area. Also, I obviously tripped Garrison Script forces here...

Quintus Fabius Maximus took a moment to process the information. The northern legions had not arrived, the late Scipio's Cannae legions were probably far south. Near Cannae. To think, that the crazy spy in Sparte was actually right on one of his conspiracy theories.

Then again, he had checked, and there was no deity referred to by the name "Unnumbered Wings", so perhaps he was indeed crazy...

Quintus Fabius Maximus: We have beaten arrogant Greeks before, we shall do so again.
Quintus Fabius Maximus: What do we have available in the armories?


The response was sobering. Even in their own great city, it appeared they would be outnumbered by the barbarians by a significant number. This was never a good sign, as the Roman heavy infantry worked best with a critical mass that could break through the enemy; as Hannibal had found out to his loss.

Quintus Fabius Maximus: To the walls!
Roman General: But the Greeks are already within the walls...
Quintus Fabius Maximus: How is that possible?!


A little earlier...

Agesipolis: I will take control of a small taskforce, but someone needs to keep Roman eyes on that gate!
Agesipolis: Gelo, I need you to help coordinate a "bold and foolish" frontal attack on these gates.
Agesipolis: Keep the pikemen together and try to stay well back.

Gelo: What about the hoplites?
Agesipolis: Keep them in the expected position on the flanks.
Agesipolis: Your missile troops should make a good show of it from the siege towers.

Slinger1: Will this "stealth tower" actually work?
Slinger2: Shh, the Romans might hear us.

Roman patrol: Wait a moment, that tower wasn't there just now...
Roman patrol: Oh crap, the Greeks are on our rear walls, sound the alarm!!

They were not able to sound the alarm in time to prevent Agesipolis' men from taking control of a gatehouse.

Indeed, by the time they were detected, the Spartan general's picked troops (a mixture of Spartiates and veterans of fighting in Athenai, Pella and so on) had with amazing speed stealthily killed the Roman guards and begun sabotaging the gates.

Though the situation was dire, at least Quintus Fabius Maximus did have enough warning to scramble a number of his elite veterans to prevent Agesipolis from simply having his men march through the gates...

No, he failed there too. His chosen triarii were surprised to find pikemen already taking up positions, screened by a force of picked heavy hoplites. Unsure of what to do, the triarii attacked, only to discover that the pikemen and hoplites worked together, forcing them back at spearpoint.

The greeks, for their part, were well prepared, having trained and actually experienced heavy urban combat.

Spartan Officer: Now men, spear them!

This was far too much for the Romans elites, who of course were used to fighting tired out enemies near the end of a battle. Or dying.

This time, it was dying.

To add insult and death to injury, greek slingers took full advantage of their position and elevation to shoot the confused Romans in the back, downing many of them for a later, unceremonial, execution by the spikes at the end of Spartan standard issue dory.

Thus it was, that as Quintus Fabius Maximus hurriedly gathered his best men and rode down the streets of Roma, that he was surprised by the sight of his elite infantry running away from the walls... and then the sight of a hoplite phalanx charging right at him!


Quintus Fabius Maximus: What, how is this possible?!
Slinger Officer: Target that one! The one without a shield or a spear!!

It is doubtful that a shield would have saved him, really. This may have been Quintus Fabius Maximus' first encounter with Agesipolis' new allies, slingers from Rhodes.

It was certainly the last time he would encounter their famously lethal lead bullets, which the Rhodians had to hand the moment their officer spotted the gleaming cuirasses of the Roman general's bodyguard.

Agesipolis delivered on his (much earlier, just check!) promise to look into a long-term contract with the Rhodians. Quintus Fabius Maximus might have been one of the first few Romans to perish under a shredding volley of these anti-armor projectiles, but he would by no means be the last.


Just to clarify; Rhodians also carried standard rock or even baked clay shot, the lead bullets were used for engaging (high-value and heavily) armored targets.

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 39: 

Chapter 39: Exterminatus

Elsewhere, the Romans were trying to breach some of the defensive assault lines of pikemen that Agesipolis had set up to block the main roads.

Though it is a brave attempt, the well-trained helots under the command of one of the Spartan officers are of course able to-

Roman: Hey look, a flank!
Pikemen: Uh oh. Watch out on the left!

Before long, the formation began to crack at the corners before losing cohesion.

Agesipolis: Do something about those Romans!
Hoplites: Shouldn't we reinforce them?

Agesipolis: What? You don't kill Romans with spears.
Agesipolis: Slingers, take them out!
Slingers: Missiles, attack!!

Their captain might have hoped to draw the Spartan force into a brutal melee fight that could be won with Roman swords, but today was not Cannae. Although the Romans did overcome the lone unit of unsupported pikemen, it cost them three cohorts to do so.

Many of the corpses in that packed mass were badly damaged by the high-impact bullets of the Rhodians.

Which of course brings up the question of how they "recover" the bullets afterwards...

Regardless, it seems that that marked the end of the Roman efforts to drive out Agesipolis' force proper, as resistance was considerably subdued after that point.

Groups of slinger-escorted hoplites began to push through various parts of the city, looking for important targets like armories, barracks and so on.

They also noted down any particularly rich-looking buildings for future "exploitation".

The remaining disorganized Roman soldiers were also thoroughly "exploited".

Hoplite: Roman Triarii, I see you know how to use a spear like a civilized warrior!
Triarii: Come, let us test our arms!
Hoplite: Charge! *pulls out sword*
Triarii: ... wait what?!

Slingers: Aha, you fell for it! Attack!
Triarii: What, wasn't this about honorable melee combat?
Hoplite: It's actually just about you dying.

Triarii: I won't die like this. Hiya---aa?
Slinger: Hah! *grabs Triarii's spear* Didn't expect that did you?
Triarii: Oh crap.
Slinger: Riposte! *swings sling*

Thwack!


And thus died the last defender of Roma.

The pressures of invasion by Carthage and the need for a larger, more ominous looking front to the enemy led the Romans to gradually shift their tactics when it came to troop dispersment. Although records are sparse, some accounts report that the old 'Hastati' and 'Principe' manipules were merged nearly into one unit, called for the first time a 'cohort'.

These men fight and look just like the Principes of the past, but their numbers are greater, and you cannot tell 'Hastati' from 'Principe'. It could well be that the younger men fought more bravely and better with the more experienced soldiers at their sides. Used mainly to counter Hannibal and his forces in Italy, it's evident that after the 2nd Punic War Roman military tactics were never the same.

This unit fights with a thrown 'pilum' released at the enemy in a powerful volley, and then engages with the Roman 'Gladius', a short sword that is very useful in the Legionary style of fighting.

And with him was laid, to a violent rest, the bullet-ridden corpse of what had been the myth of Roman invincibility.

Very violent and extremely bullet-ridden.

Spoiler for Details: 

The Romans killed 600, but I also killed another 200 of my own soldiers...

[Alavaria]

Spoiler for Chapter 40: 

Chapter 40: Romans, Rendered Down

The Romans' worst fears had happened (again); their "eternal" city was in the hands of invading barbarians. Agesipolis ordered his soldiers to force all the Romans into some of the poorer districts of the city as organized and systematic looting began.

Roma's rich palaces and monumental buildings were scoured by the Greek soldiers, who carefully inspected any potential valuables before taking them out to Agesipolis' main siege camp outside the walls. The Romans huddled together in the various ghettos while their riches were being delivered into the hands of their conquerors. This went on for a few days.


While the looting was still going on, the detained Romans began to run out of food. Not that there had been much in the run-down tenement buildings anyway. And that is when Agesipolis finally issued an order to deal with the Roman population...

Agesipolis: Well, I guess we'll just have to kill them all.
Agesipolis: Get to it.
Officer: Wait, it comes down to swords in the end?
Agesipolis: I was waiting, but Our Lady doesn't seem to care much.
Officer: Wasn't the plan to make them starve to death?
Agesipolis: I don't know. Let's consider it urban warfare training.
Agesipolis: Go into those shacks they call houses and kill them all.

Thus, the histories would record that instead of the usual murder and pillaging, the Spartan Empire's very first banner army instead liquidated all the Roman assets, and then deliberately decided to liquidate all the Romans.

The lower areas of Roma ran with blood as a final desperate fight commenced. It did not take long for the hungry Romans to discover that instead of meat to eat, they were about to be turned into meat. Taking up anything that would suffice as a weapon, the population of Roma would follow their defenders into the grave.

The looting commenced apace of course. In particular, trusted veterans were assigned to search areas of military importance to recover any Roman war materiel for later study (or perhaps use).

It appeared the Romans had been working on some sort of "Legion" project. Evidence was discovered regarding various works that could have led to a series of Roman-controlled weapons of mass destruction. Only the names of some of these weapons remain:

• Legio I Germanica
• Legio II Augusta
• Legio III Augusta
• Legio III Gallica

And so on...

(This is while the building is still held by Rome, by the way
Player does not see these bonuses from the building)

As part of the Roman strategy, they had apparently intended to implement a series of reforms, not too unlike Agesipolis' own changes to Spartan society.

Though it wasn't clear who this "Marius" was (or rather, there were quite a lot of Mariuses around) it was considered a top priority to apprehend and then end him.

One week later...


The last valuables of Roma are being searched out, but the corpses of all the slain Romani are heaped in great mounds in the streets. Like the dogs their owners were, the starving dogs of city devoured their late masters. The stench, as one might imagine, of an entire city's worth of decaying cadavers fills the area.


______Aa: What.
Agesipolis: You weren't planning on keeping them.
______Aa: Yes, but you're telling me you had your men thrust though every single Roman.
Agesipolis: So you were intending to have them all starve to death?
______Aa: No, I was going to say to burn them all.
Agesipolis: Alive?
______Aa: Well it's too late for that.
Agesipolis: Should we still burn them?
______Aa: Yes, burn them dead.

______Aa: Seriously, I wander off for a week to deal with something back east...
______Aa: But that's what I like to see.
Agesipolis: Dead Romans?
______Aa: No, generals being proactive.
______Aa: Dead Romans are also a plus I suppose

Perioikoi Officer: General, the checks are complete, and the supply train is prepared.
Agesipolis: Ah, we are properly prepared for anything, now.
Agesipolis: What's next?
Perioikoi Officer: Huh?
Agesipolis: No, I wasn't asking you.
Perioikoi Officer: Who exactly was that?
Agesipolis: Oh, that was Aa.
Perioikoi Officer: WHAT?!



NEXT TIME: Behind the scenes, setting up the Romans to fall down.

EDIT: So far, Agesipolis has taken 12 settlements (Machinaidas: 6).
Sparta stands at 38,786 enemy fighting deaths, compared to 4627 friendly deaths, a ratio over 8-to-1.

[Alavaria]

The Secret History of the Fall of Rome

Roma, as they say, was not destroyed in a day.


Among the young supporters of Agesipolis, numerous "conspiracy theories" circulate regarding his rise to power, the formation of the League (and later the Hegemony) and other events leading up to all-out war with the Romans.

In the highest levels of Spartan society, be it military or non-military, the reality of these guesses is better known.

Overview

In hindsight, it is relatively clear that Agesipolis took full advantage of events, exploiting them in order to build his powerbase and create new facts on the ground that the high-inertia Spartan society was unable to reverse.

However, it is also the case that he and other actors had also manipulated not only those events but also information and interpretation of them in order to best achieve his long-run goals.


After the smoke of Roma's destruction has dissipated, some of his top Generals and supporters are beginning to realize the enormity, or in some case smallness, of what was lurking behind the fog of war.

1: The "Macedonian-Athenian Plot"

Much has been made of the various Greek forces fought by Agesipolis on the way to Athenai. While it is beyond doubt that these were overly massed and heavily equipped for usual city militia, it is not clear what their objectives might have been. Agesipolis of course claimed that the forces were raised with Athenian coin as part of an upcoming campaign against Sparta, a sentiment which was echoed by many under his command.

However, while the enemy fought hard against the Spartan force, that was the only real outcome to be expected. Indeed, some accounts suggest that, rather than being attacked "on the way", Agesipolis had to actually have been attacking the cities, otherwise he wouldn't have ended up controlling them afterwards...


Furthermore, evidence suggests these troops were in such a great number that Sparta was not the target; any additional core of Macedonian troops would cause the force to wildly outnumber any force Sparta would have raised. Rather, one might well imagine that the intent of the Macedonian king was to invade the Roman lands. The Athenian coin can be understood as follows: the Athenians paid tribute to Macedon, who used that same silver to raise their invasion force.

Of course, the tendency of Spartans to view their neighbours with suspicion meant that they were happy to cheer about Spartan victories, and work towards future ones. This gave impetus to raising an unprecendented reinforcement to send against Athenai.

Not only did this allow Agesipolis to sneak through some reforms in terms of recruiting and training the non-Spartiates (which was done indirectly, by having his supporters move into those positions) but also meant that the large segment of Athenai's poor would become raw material for later Spartan armies.

After the fall of Athenai, various Athenian politicians denounced "warmongers," claiming that they were responsible for Athens' role in the conflict, and presented some convincing evidence to this effect. A majority of the Athenian poor had supported Athenian military involvement as a Macedonian "ally" in hopes of improving their situation by means of pay, loot or maybe even land as "allied settlers". However, when these were taken away by Agesipolis' victorious army to farm in Sparta's other new territories, they were left high and dry.

The formerly unpopular "war detractors" now had the majority of votes from those left who had been less interested in a war, which Athens had lost. A loss that resulted in the city being humiliated and they, personally, being forced to pay a "special war tax". The "warmongers" whom they had previously viewed with suspicion as rash demagogues were now considered almost enemies of the polis. A number of prominent Athenians, including many generals, were exiled.


Ironically, some number of exiled Athenian generals later joined Sparta's forces as mercenary captains, thanks to Agesipolis' very subtle use of Athenian politician proxies. Indeed, they were probably unaware that the movement against them was started by a small number of Agesipolis' Athenian supporters who distrusted the Macedonians and thus opposed any joint action with them. In this way, Agesipolis further weakened Athens and strengthened Sparta while appearing a friend to everyone.

These same politicians then encouraged the Athenian public to sign on with Agesipolis' upcoming war with the "oppressor" Macedonians. While Agesipolis committed to a policy of "no Athenian boots on the ground", two things must be kept in mind: First of all, Athens had hardly any military left as they had mostly been killed already. Secondly, this didn't count all the Athenian helots, which the citizens (and politicians!) remaining in the city no longer cared about (as they had no ability to vote after being taken away).

That said, they were not entirely hypocritical in this, as in general Athens felt resentment towards the Macedonian hegemony of Greek lands. Since it was commonly felt that Macedon (with the help of the now-exiled "warmongers) had dragged Athens into a war and abandoned it to the Spartans, many were willing to at least agree that a Spartan counter-attack on Macedon was a "reasonable and proportional" response. This helped ease the sting of the "special war tax" that Agesipolis claimed was their contribution to the effort.

Somewhat more importantly, the ability of the pro-Sparta politicians to raise popular support for Agesipolis meant that Sparta was able to draw on a number of resources, such as trainers for their new helot forces but most importantly architects and siege engineers...


More later

[Alavaria]

Chapter 41: Fire!

Lucius Vibius Atellus: How bold of these Greeks to invade us by the sea.
Lucius Vibius Atellus: The Cannae legions will soon be here, and then they will know fear.

Polydoros of Sparta: Fire!!

A sudden explosion in the city square sent charred Roman corpses flying into the air.

Lucius Vibius Atellus: What?!

Polybian Cohort Soldier: No, not like thisssssssss!!

Syracusean Engineer: General! It seems the accuracy of these "firepots" is not very good.
__________Polydoros: But the effectiveness?
Syracusean Engineer: As expected when on target. But there will be a lot of collateral damage.
__________Polydoros: I don't care about that. Keep firing on the Romans!
__________Polydoros: Yes Sir!

The Spartan force watched as the Roman buildings burned brightly.


Polydoros: Wait, hold fire until those structures have collapsed.
Polydoros: The burning ones are blocking the ones behind it.

Several more waves of artillery fire reduced a fine Roman neighborhood into mere rubble. However, a clear path had been opened to the square, where the remaining Roman survivors... remained.

Lucius Vibius Atellus: Damn Spartans, when did they get so advanced...

They fought hard, but in the end there was no way they could stand against the mighty phalanx.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Polydoros hardly had to clear the city. After all the firebombing, one could only say that at least the corpse cleanup required was minimal.

[Alavaria]

Chapter 42: Spartan Mora, Escalation

As time passes and the people of this region become acquainted with Spartan invasion, they begin to see the disadvantages of being a part of the "Pax Romana". There is a fire burning up the land. The people cannot be protected from the Spartan invaders and less-regulars who in the current time are robbing them blind, if not outright killing all of them. The lost freedoms they had are compounded with economic ruin, harsh confiscatory policies and an altogether broken way of life.

The benefit is that you are able to loot a great deal of money by "depopulating" the Roman citizens in the area who are under a blanket sentence of death.

Polydoros: Wow, this is a terrible time to be a Roman barbarian.
_____Aa: Any time when I'm out and about is.

On a small scale, Spartan generals were experimenting with other modern forms of warfare. The javelin-skirmisher cavalry was well known, but the potential of the new heavy xyton-bearing shock cavalry was being observed. However, it seemed that as Aa had suggested, the slinger would remain the army's lethal arm.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The flexibility of mounted troops that could chase routers, charge and even fight in a prolonged melee meant that these new troops would soon be a small but standard part of Spartan Banner Armies for years to come.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Italy would not forget it anytime soon.

Meanwhile, in the East...

Machinaidas: You know, sometimes I think we need to develop a heavy shock cavalry tradition.
____Tenton: Why is that?

Machinaidas: Because it seems to be part of a modern army which we lack.
Machinaidas: The Tarentines do good work, but they lack the powerful impact charge.

____Tenton: But hoplites are so effective...
Machinaidas: We can't use hoplites as everything.
Machinaidas: Though historically it seems we just applied hoplites to everything...

Hoplites: Aaah a skirmisher!!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: