What follows is most of the account of the "200 Years' War" between the great empires of Persia and Rome.
And lo, the dawn of the year 1320 saw the Persian Empire threatened on many fronts. In the far east, the final remnants of the Chinese Imperial Army, along with a ragtag bunch of freedom fighters, huddled outside Guangzhou, threatening to repulse the hated invaders:
These warriors were brave and highly skilled, but their primitive weapons were their downfall. They broke quickly with a simple application of Cannons and Riflemen.
In the west, Sparta had it much worse. After a scouting party of six Cuirassiers was easily wiped out, Caesar sent a proper army, intent on conquest:
This was a proper battle, with losses on both sides. It was, in many ways, the mirror image of the conflict in China, with Caesar's state-of-the-art soldiers up against the largely archaic veterans of the Greek War. Thankfully, the Persians' defining military advantage, the booming Cannons, devastated the dapper Roman gunners, allowing them to be picked apart piecemeal. Sparta still stood, though not without cost. Several Persian bodies lay litterd on the battlefield alongside the Roman corpses.
It was to the north, though, in Moscow, where Julius Caesar made his greatest push:
Xerxes sent waves of recruits to hold the line, and emptied the treasury re-equipping the garrisons already present. In his infinite wisdom, though, the god-king knew that defeat was inevitable. Despite this certainty, he vowed to make the Romans pay dearly for victory.
As the fixed battles took place along city walls, both empires shuffled troops from the quiet countryside to where they would do the most good. Xerxes noticed, poring over his maps, that the supply lines running from Scandinavia to Europe ran tantalizingly close to Odessa:
The Persians leapt at the chance to inflict heavy casualties on the Romans in the open field, where they didn't have any cultural defense to hide behind. Strict discipline was required, though, to keep the army together. Any overeager units caught chasing routed foes would find themselves alone in enemy territory, vulnerable to counterattack. In holding together, the soldiers became a force that Roman generals shied away from engaging.
The costs of the war on the home front were staggering. Fields were ripped up and Pastures were torn down by marauding troops and cowardly Spies. Protestors and good citizens alike died under the whip at urban Forges, hammering out Rifles and Cannons for the front lines. Scientific progress slowed to a halt as the people were taxed mercilessly, their funds going toward new weapons at the front lines. And the baleful eyes of the Statue of Zeus loomed over all, magnifying the populace's desire to end the conflict.
In far-off Bangalore, though, not all was squalor and despair. Rich veins of gold had been found, setting off a population boom:
Many of these people proceeded to die in the foundries, of course, but it was nevertheless an all-too-brief glimmer of hope in a dismal war.
In 1340, Moscow finally fell to the Roman hordes:
Persian troops watched from a safe distance as the Romans consolidated power and quelled revolts within the city. The Roman people were nothing if not brutally efficient. The time would come for the city to be retaken, but Caesar's army would have to be broken first.
As the northern front collapsed, the Mediterranean front brought better news. Roman attacks on Greece had slowed to a trickle, so the army went on the offensive. As they slogged westward through the countryside, a messenger arrived in Persepolis:
Qin Shi Huang, seeing Rome's military success against Moscow, had thrown in with Caesar, begging for protection from the Persian forces which had driven his court to Mongolia. Of course, any such oath would require jettisoning one's own vassals. So Wang Kon had become a free agent.
Xerxes moved quickly to secure peace:
Wang Kon refused to capitulate, secure in the safety of his island fortress. Nevertheless, his gold fueled the Persian war effort and his promise of peace meant that Persian fishermen would be safe from his roaming Triremes.
Nevertheless, Qin Shi Huang kneeling to kiss the Roman ring was an affront to Xerxes. Besides, the Persian veterans were needed in the west. And the quickest way there was through Xian:
It was an arid place, full of hardy folk who could, had things turned out differently, have been described as "Mongolian." Xerxes strongly considered burning the useless place simply to vent his epic rage, but he instead garrisoned it as a way station along the road.
Julius Caesar, not content with his domination of Moscow, sent his troops westward to make a push on Odessa. This time, the Persians were ready for him:
Odessa was no longer nestled in primeval forests. The Roman army was forced to make camp in an open field, exposed to Persian Cannons. After their noisy work was done, the Riflemen and Cavalry tore apart the shell-shocked remnants. The Roman offensive army was no more. It was time for Xerxes to reclaim what was rightfully his... and to claim much of what was rightfully not.
The first order of business was to take control of the Eternal City itself:
The gamble had paid off! The army had marched into the heart of Europe, suffering multiple strikes from well-trained Grenadiers, and had found Rome woefully underdefended. Rome was, indeed, a city of Wonders. The Colossus would provide a short-term boost to the Persian economy. The Pyramids unlocked a number of powerful Civics. Perhaps most important, though, was Chichen Itza. Its capture meant that its mystical influence would no longer shield the rest of Rome' cities. And with Caesar's main army shattered, Europa was ripe for the picking.
The Roman army's disastrous assault on Odessa also took much of Moscow's garrison with it. In 1380, Persian Cavalry finally put an end to 40 years of Roman domination there:
If the people of Moscow were sorry to see the cold, expressionless Persian Riflemen once again roaming the streets, they didn't show it. Persian flags once again flew from every house, and Persian culture once again pushed far into the Roman north.
In the east, the Chinese government, relegated to squatting in rude huts in the former Barbarian city of Macau, was forced to flee yet again:
And Wonsan, a coastal city on the Sea of Japan, also fell:
The Chinese army was in shambles. The once-feared Longbowmen and Cho-Ko-Nus, trained since childhood to protect the Motherland, now withered before concentrated Rifle fire. Even victories in numbers had become hard to come by, as Chinese deaths on the battlefield exceeded their dwindling birth rate.
Elsewhere, the long-simmering tensions between Persia and Carthage finally erupted into true violence, with Xerxes finally sending a force along the Mediterranean coast:
The city was largely useless, but Hannibal's infernal culture was starving Rome. And, of course, the easiest way to win a cultural war is through military means.
Not even Asoka's rocky new capital was spared the Persian lash:
The city burned. As you can see, its cultural influence vastly outweighed its value as a city. With the northwest Indian Farms and Plantations once again available, the capture had achieved its purpose.
As Qin had outside Guangzhou, Caesar sent a last-ditch stack to attempt to retake Rome:
And, like China's army before it, it failed in its mission.
By 1395, the triumphant far eastern army was fighting Romans instead of Chinese:
They would be too late for any serious fighitng in Europe, but they nevertheless succeeded in bringing much of Siberia under Persian control.
Part II to follow.
And lo, the dawn of the year 1320 saw the Persian Empire threatened on many fronts. In the far east, the final remnants of the Chinese Imperial Army, along with a ragtag bunch of freedom fighters, huddled outside Guangzhou, threatening to repulse the hated invaders:
These warriors were brave and highly skilled, but their primitive weapons were their downfall. They broke quickly with a simple application of Cannons and Riflemen.
In the west, Sparta had it much worse. After a scouting party of six Cuirassiers was easily wiped out, Caesar sent a proper army, intent on conquest:
This was a proper battle, with losses on both sides. It was, in many ways, the mirror image of the conflict in China, with Caesar's state-of-the-art soldiers up against the largely archaic veterans of the Greek War. Thankfully, the Persians' defining military advantage, the booming Cannons, devastated the dapper Roman gunners, allowing them to be picked apart piecemeal. Sparta still stood, though not without cost. Several Persian bodies lay litterd on the battlefield alongside the Roman corpses.
It was to the north, though, in Moscow, where Julius Caesar made his greatest push:
Xerxes sent waves of recruits to hold the line, and emptied the treasury re-equipping the garrisons already present. In his infinite wisdom, though, the god-king knew that defeat was inevitable. Despite this certainty, he vowed to make the Romans pay dearly for victory.
As the fixed battles took place along city walls, both empires shuffled troops from the quiet countryside to where they would do the most good. Xerxes noticed, poring over his maps, that the supply lines running from Scandinavia to Europe ran tantalizingly close to Odessa:
The Persians leapt at the chance to inflict heavy casualties on the Romans in the open field, where they didn't have any cultural defense to hide behind. Strict discipline was required, though, to keep the army together. Any overeager units caught chasing routed foes would find themselves alone in enemy territory, vulnerable to counterattack. In holding together, the soldiers became a force that Roman generals shied away from engaging.
The costs of the war on the home front were staggering. Fields were ripped up and Pastures were torn down by marauding troops and cowardly Spies. Protestors and good citizens alike died under the whip at urban Forges, hammering out Rifles and Cannons for the front lines. Scientific progress slowed to a halt as the people were taxed mercilessly, their funds going toward new weapons at the front lines. And the baleful eyes of the Statue of Zeus loomed over all, magnifying the populace's desire to end the conflict.
In far-off Bangalore, though, not all was squalor and despair. Rich veins of gold had been found, setting off a population boom:
Many of these people proceeded to die in the foundries, of course, but it was nevertheless an all-too-brief glimmer of hope in a dismal war.
In 1340, Moscow finally fell to the Roman hordes:
Persian troops watched from a safe distance as the Romans consolidated power and quelled revolts within the city. The Roman people were nothing if not brutally efficient. The time would come for the city to be retaken, but Caesar's army would have to be broken first.
As the northern front collapsed, the Mediterranean front brought better news. Roman attacks on Greece had slowed to a trickle, so the army went on the offensive. As they slogged westward through the countryside, a messenger arrived in Persepolis:
Qin Shi Huang, seeing Rome's military success against Moscow, had thrown in with Caesar, begging for protection from the Persian forces which had driven his court to Mongolia. Of course, any such oath would require jettisoning one's own vassals. So Wang Kon had become a free agent.
Xerxes moved quickly to secure peace:
Wang Kon refused to capitulate, secure in the safety of his island fortress. Nevertheless, his gold fueled the Persian war effort and his promise of peace meant that Persian fishermen would be safe from his roaming Triremes.
Nevertheless, Qin Shi Huang kneeling to kiss the Roman ring was an affront to Xerxes. Besides, the Persian veterans were needed in the west. And the quickest way there was through Xian:
It was an arid place, full of hardy folk who could, had things turned out differently, have been described as "Mongolian." Xerxes strongly considered burning the useless place simply to vent his epic rage, but he instead garrisoned it as a way station along the road.
Julius Caesar, not content with his domination of Moscow, sent his troops westward to make a push on Odessa. This time, the Persians were ready for him:
Odessa was no longer nestled in primeval forests. The Roman army was forced to make camp in an open field, exposed to Persian Cannons. After their noisy work was done, the Riflemen and Cavalry tore apart the shell-shocked remnants. The Roman offensive army was no more. It was time for Xerxes to reclaim what was rightfully his... and to claim much of what was rightfully not.
The first order of business was to take control of the Eternal City itself:
The gamble had paid off! The army had marched into the heart of Europe, suffering multiple strikes from well-trained Grenadiers, and had found Rome woefully underdefended. Rome was, indeed, a city of Wonders. The Colossus would provide a short-term boost to the Persian economy. The Pyramids unlocked a number of powerful Civics. Perhaps most important, though, was Chichen Itza. Its capture meant that its mystical influence would no longer shield the rest of Rome' cities. And with Caesar's main army shattered, Europa was ripe for the picking.
The Roman army's disastrous assault on Odessa also took much of Moscow's garrison with it. In 1380, Persian Cavalry finally put an end to 40 years of Roman domination there:
If the people of Moscow were sorry to see the cold, expressionless Persian Riflemen once again roaming the streets, they didn't show it. Persian flags once again flew from every house, and Persian culture once again pushed far into the Roman north.
In the east, the Chinese government, relegated to squatting in rude huts in the former Barbarian city of Macau, was forced to flee yet again:
And Wonsan, a coastal city on the Sea of Japan, also fell:
The Chinese army was in shambles. The once-feared Longbowmen and Cho-Ko-Nus, trained since childhood to protect the Motherland, now withered before concentrated Rifle fire. Even victories in numbers had become hard to come by, as Chinese deaths on the battlefield exceeded their dwindling birth rate.
Elsewhere, the long-simmering tensions between Persia and Carthage finally erupted into true violence, with Xerxes finally sending a force along the Mediterranean coast:
The city was largely useless, but Hannibal's infernal culture was starving Rome. And, of course, the easiest way to win a cultural war is through military means.
Not even Asoka's rocky new capital was spared the Persian lash:
The city burned. As you can see, its cultural influence vastly outweighed its value as a city. With the northwest Indian Farms and Plantations once again available, the capture had achieved its purpose.
As Qin had outside Guangzhou, Caesar sent a last-ditch stack to attempt to retake Rome:
And, like China's army before it, it failed in its mission.
By 1395, the triumphant far eastern army was fighting Romans instead of Chinese:
They would be too late for any serious fighitng in Europe, but they nevertheless succeeded in bringing much of Siberia under Persian control.
Part II to follow.
This game is now effectively won.
