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Thread: [EB] The Empire Saga

  1. #1

    Default [EB] The Empire Saga

    Foreword


    After 3 years away from the game, I've started playing the Europa Barbarorum mod once again and have decided to continue my previous AARs about the seleucid empire here. I've lost my old account details so I am back as seleukid empire instead of seleucid empire.


    My old AARs 'Empire: Song of Peace and War' and 'Empire: The Divine King' were intended to be a single AAR. The former was to be a story regarding war and rebellion in the middle years of Antiochus II Theos reign (In-game Theodoros Syriakos) and served to show the strength of the reborn empire at 252BC (The earliest I can reach Arche Seleukeia victory conditions with realistic movement mod while maintaining a somewhat stable empire & Borders) as well as some of the laws and some fantasy elements that shape the world of my AAR. The second AAR was to be the reign of Antiochus III Megas and would have followed the campaign more closely as he conquered the rest of the map.


    Unfortunately, I got distracted and started the second AAR without completing the first, before I lost interest in writing altogether. This time around, I plan to remain more focused on ending each separate "Volume", and hopefully, completing at 2 of the 3 volumes I intended . I did have a third AAR planned in the series putting the seleucid empire in medieval times, but thankfully, I didn't start.




    I have started a new seleucid campaign on VH/M and have played up to 252BC. The reason I use realistic movement mod is so my characters can stay alive throughout a large campaign. It is not realistic for a King with overwhelming forces to take 15+ years to conquer 2 regions when in reality, entire regions could be lost or won with a single decisive battles in antiquity. This mod causes another problem however, as Realistic movement mod does tend to make the late game tedious and difficult as you are facing 1-2 superpowers and endless levy spam from Rome (Vigiles anyone?), Elite Pike Spam from carthage or Brown Death from the Lusotani. However, for the sake of storywriting, I will not follow the campaign movements too closely and may condense a few battles into a single decisive battle when writing, especially if it is levy spam.


    Old posts will be copied, edited and updated here, and put into a single thread. I will not focus too much on re-creating the pictures I had in my previous AARs, except for the maps of the world, so you can get an idea of the scope of the conflicts and the power of the empire and her enemies.


    I look forward to continuing this story, that has been in my mind for a long time, a story about the greatest empire that was never forged...

  2. #2
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Welcome back! It sounds like you're planning for an enjoyable and realistic campaign. I look forward to seeing your story develop.

  3. #3

    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Many thanks Alwyn! Good to see you're still around.

    Do you know why I am unable to edit any posts? Is this a new account thing?

  4. #4

    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    The Setting for Volume 1
    Winter 252 BC





    King Theodoros, Sarpedon and Alexandros "The Black"



    And so it came to pass that in the Winter of 252 BC King Antiochus II Theodoros along with his brother Sarpedon and cousin Alexandros "The Black" finally crushed all resistance and reunited the empire of Alexandros Megas. It had taken the three generals 20 years since the beginning of their campaign in 272 BC to achieve this but the end result was the complete unification of the empire and even expansion north of the pontic sea. This made the Arche Seleukeia the largest and most powerful empire ever created


    But as they say nothing lasts forever, and empires are especially fragile things...


    Extent of the Empire in 252 BC


  5. #5
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Good update, I like your line about empires being fragile. It looks like your AAR is just gettng started when many AARs end, after victory - that's a creative idea.

    Quote Originally Posted by SELEUKID EMPIRE View Post
    Many thanks Alwyn! Good to see you're still around.

    Do you know why I am unable to edit any posts? Is this a new account thing?
    Yes, it's a new account thing. If I remember correctly, you'll be able to edit your posts when you have been a member for a week and have 25 posts. (Shankbot's Unofficial Guide for New Members is useful for this sort of thing). One way to reach 25 posts is to post encouraging comments on recently updated Creative Writing and AARs. When you do this, it can encourage other writers to comment on your work, especially if you add a link to your AAR in your signature when you have 25 posts.
    Last edited by Alwyn; July 07, 2019 at 01:18 AM.

  6. #6

    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Quote Originally Posted by Alwyn View Post
    Good update, I like your line about empires being fragile. It looks like your AAR is just gettng started when many AARs end, after victory - that's a creative idea.
    The main reason I do this is because its a position of relative security (although youre never really secure when playing with realistic movement mod), so I can decide exactly what to attack next and allows me to shape the story rather than having enemies dictate what is happening. Its less of an AAR really and more of a story

  7. #7
    Turkafinwë's Avatar The Sick Baby Jester
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    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Welcome back Seleukid Empire! I too think it's an intruiging idea to start your story with a grand empire. This should lead to a quite different kind of story then we see in most AAR's.

    Suffice to say I'm looking forward to see more of the Seleucids and their struggle to keep their empire together.

  8. #8

    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Volume 1: Song of Peace and War

    Book I: Crown of Flames



    Act I: The Gardens of Paradise


    Prologue: The Coming Storm
    Winter 250 BC


    Peace is nothing more than an illusion. For there is only one thing man cannot stay away from, and that is War. To the millions of people living in the heart of the Empire, war is a faraway thought. They lived in the Great Empire of Alexander the Great, reforged and made even greater by his descendants. What nation in the world could now stand up to them? For twenty years, the wars had been contained at the frontiers, thousands of miles away. The empire, lead by its invincible King had always been victorious, ever on the offensive against the barbarians at the edges of the world. What threat could could overcome them now?


    These people carried on with their daily lives, so certain that the future would be as bright as the present day. But not all men were fooled. A few saw what the others could not. They were not blinded by the glare of the sun and saw the gathering storm clouds, wondering in fear when they would burst and unleash the torrent upon them. For where there is wealth and power, there is always envy. And all men had forgotten, that there had once been older powers which ruled this world...

  9. #9

    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    Quote Originally Posted by Turkafinwë View Post
    Welcome back Seleukid Empire! I too think it's an intruiging idea to start your story with a grand empire. This should lead to a quite different kind of story then we see in most AAR's.

    Suffice to say I'm looking forward to see more of the Seleucids and their struggle to keep their empire together.
    Thanks Turjafinwe! I was inspired a lot by the ASOIAF series but more so by the Malazan series by Steven Erikson. He really broke the genre by starting his series at a point where the fictional empire in his story was already huge by the time of the first book. The next 9 books told their story as they survived and overcame continent shaking calamity after calamity from the perspective of the beloved characters.

  10. #10
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: [EB] The Empire Saga

    You've created the atmosphere of rising tension well, I'm looking forward to seeing where this will lead!

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