Alexander Would Be Proud - a Greek AAR

[Taniciusfox]

Greek Cities AAR

Changes:

Greeks - as in, all Greek factions - can build highways now.
Fog of war is off.
Buildings have additional effects, mostly happiness, a la the Mundus Magnus Mod 2.0
Mercenary pools are much larger now in Greece and Italy.

Specifics:

Mundus Magnus Map
Medium Campaign Difficulty/Medium Battle Difficulty
Automanage all settlements on

---



Everybody knows the story of the Greeks. From the Minoan Civilisation, to the Peloponessian War, to the Great Empire of Alexander. What everyone also knows, is that the accursed generals of Alexander destroyed his god-given realm, and that is where our story begins.

Greece is wartorn. The factional disputes have enabled Macedon to become the dominant force in the region, but they are by no means a hegemon. To the West, the Romans slowly but surely are growing their empire against Gauls and Carthaginians. They drove the Greeks out of Italy, and they will try to do the same to our homeland, leaving us as slaves to their "freedom"-praising ideology. We must not allow this to happen! We must crush the Macedonians before it is too late! We must rebuild Greece's empire, it's economy, and it's armies! We must show that we are a potent force, and NO country can subjugate us!

Thankfully, Rome is the only threat to our newly-formed Confederation. In the East, Seleucus' successors struggle to control his vast realm, competing with many regional powers; they are also in competition with the Ptolemies to the south. This rift could give us an advantage, if exploited.

But, how to form a united Greece is not known. We have only 3 possessions: Athens, Rhodes, and Sparta. But these are excellent possessions; Sparta has great warriors, Athens has great merchants, and Rhodes possesses the legendary Colossus, granting us more trading power. While Greece's assets are small, it's potential is great. If we make wise moves, we can easily defeat our northern foes.

Our oracles say the Macedonians concentrate their family members on the mainland. This knowledge in hand, we must merely slaughter them - in open combat or sieges - and their empire will dissolve, allowing us to pick up the pieces. Greece and the Aegean will be one once more!

---

For now, we must build up our economy.

Our diplomats open up trade routes with the accursed Macedonians. For now, we shall remain on friendly terms as we build up.

In our cities, Athens and Rhodes focus on becoming trade centers, by constructing shrines to Nike. The central government convinces Sparta to finally erect a wall - blasphemy to the locals - for the sake of security in the Confederation.

Within a year, new shrines, roads and walls have been built. Tax rates have been raised sufficiently high to generate plenty of new revenue. But we are still too weak to tackle the beast to the north. Diplomats are sent to Asia Minor; we will open up trade with the vast Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires.

While that goes on, Eumenes of Sparta hires as many mercenaries as he can, and sets sail for Crete. We intend to take the island for ourselves - it is poorly defended and without walls! - so as to strengthen our economic base.

---

Soon, we are at the gates of Cydonia. Eumenes boasts an impressive force:



Positioning his hoplites at the front, and his ranged troops behind, Euemenes orders his troops forward!

..The battle does not go as expected. Nearly half the Greek Army is wiped out. Our strategists attribute this to the insane amount of firey ammo raining down from the skies from our archers. Later generals make note of this; fire is our friend, not our enemy!

---

268 BC, two years later, we acquire a new general. It is a quiet year otherwise.

---

As we acquire 2 new generals, we send Cleon of Sparta to invade southwest Asia Minor, which remains independent of Seleucid and Egyptian control. Taking it will secure our position further.

---

265 BC, the Battle of Halicarnassus went far more pleasantly than the battle for Crete:



We enslave the city, however small it's populace. We set about upgrading the province's infrastructure, through works such as roads.

---



Disclaimer: This event never happened. Kleo never died in the second iteration of the Greek campaign, and as a result, is still alive and well.





264 BC is a year of mourning. Our faction leader, Kleomenes of Sparta, dies. But with the conservative Kleomenes - who had been in great opposition to building the wall and other sane measures - dead, leadership falls to his heir. Said heir has made his home in Athens... and the Athenian love of knowledge has corrupted him. Perhaps he will be a wiser ruler?

[Taniciusfox]

Disclaimer: Due to time travel, this never occurred.

The Road to Macedon

Spoiler:

On the news of Kleo's death, an army is sent under one of our younger generals to try and take Thermon in Western Greece. Twice the Macedonians have been repelled from it, and if we can seize it, we will be ready to try and take Corinth.

---

Alas, the city falls:



We enslave it's population, growing one of our cities. After a little bit of rebuilding, we should be ready to attack Macedon.

---

By 261, the Greek Empire has greatly expanded. Paved roads near completion in all provinces, while a port has finally connected Crete to Greece proper. With vast wealth slowly starting to flow through our hands, we may be prepared to wage war on Macedon. A diplomat is sent to open up trade relations with the warlike Brutii in the north, so as to offset lost revenue.

---

Not too much later, our diplomats bribe the Macedonian force assaulting Thrace's capital; half the units join our army. Thrace has already decided to become a client state, however. Ah well, we will still try to bribe as many units as possible so as to further our regime's security.


---

It is 257 BC when the decision is made to attack Macedon. Our economy groans under the huge amounts of troops we now have to support, and we must disband some of them to prevent a depletion of the treasury. For this reason, we decide we should dispose of troops the best way possible: conquest.

The declaration of war is delivered! Huge armies amass, and we will hopefully soon unite all of Greece!

[Taniciusfox]

Disclaimer: Due to time travel, this never occurred.

The Greek Civil War(257 BC - 253 BC)

Spoiler:

In the war between the Greeks, first comes the jewel, Corinth. This city boasts the statue of Great Zeus, while it also separates all the Greek provinces from eachother. Once taken, a unified front pushing north can form.

---

The battle is epic, but the Corinthian garrison is completely wiped out:



With Corinth and the Statue of Zeus ours, we can focus on Macedonia proper. We will ignore their petty island possessions; those are too weak and without leadership to threaten us.

---

With Corinth dealt with, our armies can take Larissa.

Larissa falls with another great victory:



If we can take Byzantium and the Macedonian capital, that should extinguish their ruling bloodline, allowing us to pick up the pieces of a decaying empire. Already, two brave Macedonians have been slain by the rampaging hordes of Greece. More shall follow.

---

We surround and attack Deukalos, a Macedonian general:





The battle goes extremely well! Huge numbers of enemy troops are slain while we barely lose any. However, Deukalos managed to escape with a small amount of his troops, retreating to Pella in the north. We shall catch him later.

---

In 256 BC, it proves to have been a wise move to avoid attacking the Macedonian Capital:



Plague has broken out there! Now, three of the Macedonian royal family members have the plague, including the faction heir and faction leader! Let us pray for the worst...

---

With 255 BC at hand, the time has come to destroy the enemy army:



General Abreas is another one of the pitiful excuses for a leader that Macedon has sent against us. Once he's dealt with, invading Macedon proper should not be difficult.

During the battle, Abreas shows his youthful foolishness by charging right into our hoplites. Our spears and a recently-trained cavalry unit make short work of him, and he is among the battle's first casualties. Leaderless, the remaining Macedonians are expected to rout.

And that is what happens, gradually. Eventually, all the enemy army routs, and we mop them up quite nicely with a mix of missiles, cavalry charges and hand-to-hand.



What little remains of the once-great army disperses afterwards, never to trouble Greece again!

We can now advance on Pella.



After we get nearly 3 full-banner armies around the city, the citizens within naturally sally out, playing into our hands.

The battle looks dire at first; some units rout, and we get surrounded. However, our hoplites manage to slay the Macedonian general. With that done, our cavalry are ordered to attack all missile troops the enemy possesses to give us a slight edge.

But just as our whole initial army is routed, our reinforcements under our great generals arrive. The battle is epic, but is eventually won for Greece!



With most of their army obliterated, we can now assault Pella.



Pella falls, and Deukalos is slain in the process. He could evade Greece's soldiers on the open field, but his fortress became a deathtrap and his tomb! Pella itself suffers extermination; this is an attempt to rid the plague from the region.

---



254 BC brings the conquest of Chalcis. We had not yet exterminated the Macedonian Ruling Line, and so we figured we'd take their island settlements as a precaution.

In addition, our technique pays off; the plague abates in Pella.

---

The Summer of 253 BC yields Byzantium to us:



With the death of it's faction leader and faction heir, the Macedonian regime collapses. Greece is united once more! We will take Lesbos at another point in the future, but for now, we must drink in celebration!

[Volum]

Is both your and Macedonia's army made up of mostly mercenaries? How does your economy support so many mercenaries?

Also, i love the Cretan Archers, absolutely love them. Especially when I'm the Brutii cause the colors match

[Taniciusfox]

Originally Posted by Volum

Is both your and Macedonia's army made up of mostly mercenaries?

I do hire a great deal of mercenaries, yes. I always stop at Crete while on campaigns to supplement my vast armies with tons of troops.

How does your economy support so many mercenaries?

We did have a major deficit prior to the war... hence it was necessary to blow Macedonia into oblivion to gain new revenues and prevent a huge debt.

These logs are from a game I haven't played in months(I do intend to continue this when I get some free time in the coming days), so I'm not sure how much the mercenaries cost... I don't remember tweaking their cost numbers, so I'm not certain really.

Also, i love the Cretan Archers, absolutely love them. Especially when I'm the Brutii cause the colors match

I agree; they are AWESOME.

[Captain2]

We should increase the size of the navy, if we get in a fight with someone capable of cutting our cities off from each other we'll be in trouble

Edit: 4000th post

[Taniciusfox]

Originally Posted by Captain2

We should increase the size of the navy, if we get in a fight with someone capable of cutting our cities off from each other we'll be in trouble

But of course! I'll check out the naval picture whenever I load up the game and start writing the next chapter... (I'm switching between coursework and gaming every so often) Though if memory serves correctly, most of Greece's power is now based in Greece proper, with the territories in Rhodes, Asia Minor and Crete being minor...

...However.

I know that while naval isolation isn't much of a threat militarily, the Aegean trade is the pot of gold of the Greek Confederation. If blockaded, our vast profit margins would vanish and we'd run a massive deficit. With blockades and the ensuing deficits, troops cannot be raised, and as cities grow, the lack of armies can allow entire regions to fall into anarchy(this will be remembered whenever we confront the Ptolemies for our rightful claim to Egypt; their vast cities will be their undoing).

So naval development will of course be given priority, especially considering the bloodthirsty Romans to the west aren't exactly trustworthy... Repelling the Romans from the eastern coast of the Adriatic will only do so much good. We will, eventually, have to invade Italy and crush them(or at least the Brutii, who have their eyes set on the Greek states...), and this will require a solid naval force capable of cutting their trade and ensuring a steady flow of troops into Italy...

[Taniciusfox]

Annnnd, it turns out my save file was deleted somewhere along the lines. I tried to recreate the campaign, but there were some issues... for instance, Kleomenes still rules in 262 BC. So, everything after the first chapter didn't happen. I'll leave those up still, but now I've added notes that they are non-canon.

Expect an actual chapter soon.

[Taniciusfox]

The Butterfly Effect

Spoiler:

The future has been altered; it is now 262 BC, and Kleomenes is alive and well. Greece still controls Halicarnassus and Thermon, and still boasts a large war machine funded by high taxes across the Confederation.

The conservative Kleomenes wishes to extend his domain, and to do so, wishes for war with Macedon. The Macedonian Army is away on campaign in the north, and an educated guess says this means that Thrace will distract the Macedonians. Ballistas are being assembled to destroy Corinth before the Macedonians can even retaliate.

War breaks out in Summer of 262 BC, with Corinth being assaulted in a surprise attack.

Corinth was easily occupied, thanks to the fact half the enemy army was on the walls and therefore easy pickings for the Greek archers.

With Corinth occupied, a single, unified front pushing north was formed. The Macedonians would be driven out of one city after another.

2 groups of peltasts and 1 group of militia hoplites were bribed, and order to attack a much larger force with cavalry. It was reasoned that the force would be destroyed anyways, so it was necessary to curb the enemy forces while still possible.

The army was soundly defeated by an enemy cavalry charge, but a few Macedonians were killed. At the very least, three units had been bribed away from attacking Athens and Thermon.

--

The Brutii declared war upon Greece in 261. Unfortunately for them, Greek forces were ready to counter, and a force immediately headed for Brutii-held Epirus.

The Battle of Larissa was a bloodbath, for the Macedonians at least. The destruction of the Macedonian Army in the region enabled the Greek Army to continue it's push into Macedonia proper.

The Brutii attack on Greek forces in Epirus proved fruitless, with the enemy general slain and most of his army destroyed. Empowered with several mercenary divisions, Greece's own general Dionysios, the heir apparent to the Confederacy's throne, launched an attack against the Brutii position, in the hopes of driving them back across the sea into Italy.

---

259 BC, King Kleomenes passed away. General Dionysios became the new King, his succession eagerly approved by the Confederation's Council of Delegates.



The fall of Pella in 258 BC marked a glorious start to Dionysios' reign. The Macedonian capital was captured, while Macedon's faction heir and another general were both slain in combat. A huge Macedonian army had been obliterated, and now the Macedonian Empire was scattered across various disconnected territories.




An attack on Sardica to the north of Pella killed the Macedonian King.



It was speculated that the last of the Macedonian bloodline was holed up in a fortress between Byzantium and Pella.

Indeed, two family members were within the fort's confines. An assault was ordered.



The warmth of firey arrows pierced the cold winter air, cutting down a great deal of the enemy forces as the gates were forced open.



Macedonia did not collapse, as a single general remained on Lesbos.

Chalcis and Euboea were easily seized, as forces were sent to conquer Lesbos and crush the Macedonians.



The Battle of Lesbos had predictable results... the Macedonians had finally been vanquished, and the Greek peoples were almost entirely re-unified.

[Taniciusfox]

Don't you just LOVE when a game crashes on you during an epic battle or refuses to work so you have to close the program? This happened to me during the epic battle of Salona. Ah well. I'll just have to redo it...

Stay tuned for the disembowelment of the Brutii Empire! (Though the Scipii are also faring poorly against Carthage, from what I can see...)

[cardgame]

You know what really sucks?

When your computer shuts off because your parents blow the fuse.

Electric heater + Vacuum + Computer = Boom lights out

They know this, and yet don't turn the heater off when they vacuum.

[Taniciusfox]

Originally Posted by cardgame

You know what really sucks?

When your computer shuts off because your parents blow the fuse.

Electric heater + Vacuum + Computer = Boom lights out

They know this, and yet don't turn the heater off when they vacuum.

What fun would family be if they didn't annoy the hell out of you to the point you want to kill them? Almost. Almoooost.

---

Anyway, an update's coming; I finished off Salona very bloodily, losing only 4 percent of my men to the enemy's 100. Two Brutii generals slain, and... new invasion plans are already under way!

[Taniciusfox]

The Conquest of Salona and Byzantium

Spoiler:

Byzantium "joined" the Confederacy after being "persuaded" by a large Greek Army. Increasingly, the Confederacy was becoming more of a federation, with greater effective power invested at the national level thanks to the sheer might of Greek arms and the policies Dionysios had enacted to transform the identities of Athenians, Spartans, Macedonians, etc. into a single Greek identity.

Fostering this common identity was the war with the Romans. Just as the Persians of centuries past had unified the Greeks into one force, the Macedonians and later the Romans served as the glue that kept the Confederacy's members together.

An invasion of Italy itself was pondered, but it was reasoned that the various Roman factions were too strong to boot out of Italy. It would be necessary to pick them apart one by one, and even Greece's vast armies just simply did not have the manpower to attack Italia, much less hold it.

It was reasoned, instead, that the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea would be targeted for expansion, to pick apart the Brutii family's possessions. As the Romans were also fighting the Gauls and Carthage, expanding all the way to the Gallic borders was reasoned to not be so much an issue. Diplomats talked of allying with Gaul, if only to help them against the Julii campaigns.






Twice in a row, Doros of Sparta defeated Brutii attacks in Dalmatia. As Doros was a bearer of the plague of Macedon, he was sent into dangerous circumstances in the hopes he might be able to make his death useful - via combat. And indeed, with the help of mercenaries and steady reinforcements, he was quite a thorn in the Romans' side.

252 BC, it became apparent the Seleucids were trying to harm Greece... they had aligned with the Thracians, Pontus, and even Dacia. It was speculated they were trying to increase their influence in Europe and Asia Minor, and Greece would have none of that...

In the meantime, general Doros had recovered from his bout of plague, and had developed a diverse, well-trained army of archers, cavalry, and hoplites. Armed with siege weaponry, the general was ordered to take Dalmatia from the Brutii.



251 BC, Amulius Brutus took command from Cornelius to attack Doros in Dalmatia. Amulius was the heir apparent, and he had to prove his worthiness as such by defeating the Greek invasion forces. Amulius was a very talented general, but would he be a match for Greek steel?



Amulius failed horribly, retreating to Salona, hoping to use the city to gain an edge during the next inevitable confrontation.

Doros pressed an assault on Salona, hoping to kill both the heir of the Brutii family as well as one of his relatives.

Amulius didn't even die a noble death; he was struck by an arrow near the gates of Salona.

Arrows - often with fire - rained down upon the enemies, so potent that 3/4 of the enemy force was taken out by arrows despite almost no losses on the Greek side. After that, wave after wave of Hoplites moved through the narrow streets, cutting all they encountered to pieces.



As the last Romans retreated back to the town square, they found themselves surrounded by Hoplites on one side and Greek cavalry on the other. They were cut down ruthlessly.



---

Salona was annexed into the Greek Confederation, joining as the voting state of Dalmatia. Increasingly, some Greeks questioned their place in the union, as it took more and more power away from the city-states in the form of proto-nationalism. But Dionysios made sure those who became too loud with their concerns had "accidents."

As two young generals from Rhodes were sent to Epirus, Dionysios himself was meeting up with a smaller army between Byzantium and Pella, so as to form another massive force. The reason?

As the two young generals from Rhodes landed and attacked the last major Brutii strongholds simultaneously, Dionysios himself would prove that despite his age, he was no fool, and he would do this by singlehandedly vanquishing the Thracians from their small holdings.

[Omega124]

Your title is so historically inaccurate, it makes me shudder. Alexander was, and still is, Macedonian.

[Taniciusfox]

Originally Posted by Omega124

Your title is so historically inaccurate, it makes me shudder. Alexander was, and still is, Macedonian.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

The Macedonians (Greek: Μακεδόνες, Makedónes) were an ancient Greek tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axius, north of Mount Olympus in Greece, gradually expanded its dominion in the region and established the kingdom of Macedon. Historians generally agree that, whether they originally spoke a Greek dialect or a language sibling to Greek, and if they were not ultimately of Greek origin, they had been fully absorbed into Hellenism by the 5th century BC, and came to belong to the Koine Greek-speaking population in the Hellenistic period.

Sounds Greek enough for me. Same culture group and all that, even if distinct in say, genetics.

Anyway, this isn't the place to discuss what the Macedonians were. I'd advise going to the history forum and debating it there.

[Owen Glyndwr]

Good read...I like the map.

Whatever happened your Venice AAR anyways? I rather liked that one.

[Taniciusfox]

Originally Posted by Owen Glyndwr

Good read...I like the map.

Thank you. Mundus Magnus is an awesome mod, in terms of simply how much more massive and detailed the map gets compared to vanilla Rome. For one, your fleets in the Indian Ocean actually aren't worthless anymore, now that they can reach Egypt.

Whatever happened your Venice AAR anyways? I rather liked that one.

I haven't played EU3 in ages.

[Owen Glyndwr]

Originally Posted by Taniciusfox

Thank you. Mundus Magnus is an awesome mod, in terms of simply how much more massive and detailed the map gets compared to vanilla Rome. For one, your fleets in the Indian Ocean actually aren't worthless anymore, now that they can reach Egypt.

Yeah, it looks like the same map used in EB, but with the more fast paced "gaminess" of vanilla, which is kind of cool

I haven't played EU3 in ages.

Yeah, I've always really wanted to get into Paradox's games, but every time I try, I feel thoroughly intimidated, and give up, even more confused than I was the last time I tried.

[Taniciusfox]

The Conquest of Thrace(249 BC)

Spoiler:

In the Summer of 249 BC, an attempted revolt by a small hoplite captain outside Athens was brutally and efficiently crushed by the Athenian garrison. The captain was an Athenian patriot, saying that the Confederation was in danger as a result of Dionysios' growing powermongering, having bullied the Confederate Council into submission for one. However, being surrounded by cavalry on the flank, archers and skirmishers on the sides and several groups of hoplites in the front, the captain's army was cut down ruthlessly.



The Seleucids dared to demand tribute from Greece, which Dionysios accepted. This event gave Greece the necessary casus belli to declare war upon Thrace, which was allied to the Seleucids. The Seleucid diplomat who had arranged the tributary agreement was also bribed to work for Greece.



The Thracian Army was routed in a single battle, and while they fled with plenty of soldiers, they were enormously weakened.



The assault on the capital was costly, thanks to a mob of cavalry routing 5 groups of hoplites. However, the Thracian ruling family was wiped out, as well as their army. Thrace ceased to exist, the half-breeds between barbarian and civilised cultures ready to become fully Helenised.

[Taniciusfox]

To Italia(248 BC - 247 BC )

Spoiler:

With the Thracians banished and a warning sent to the Seleucids, the Roman effort was resumed. Assaults were mounted on all Brutii fleets, which were active as far east as Byzantium despite a much larger Greek naval presence. Armies were being raised and trained to launch a simultaneous strike on the last two Brutii cities, to show them the price for invading Greece.



The Brutii put up stiff resistance, but their leader and his small garrison of archers - who made good use of the Greeks' archer-based strategies against the ballistas assaulting their gates, to the point it was nearly impossible to get inside the city - were able to take many with them to the Styx. The Brutii leader was slain, regardless, joining his son in the afterlife.



In another costly battle where many hoplites were taken, the remainder of the Brutii family was exterminated. General Nicanor was also killed, and was decreed "Nicanor the Martyr" posthumously for giving his life to destroy the Brutii. While Nicanor died shortly after the last Brutii ruler, tales were distorted to indicate that the leaders had slain eachother in a heroic one-on-one confrontation.



The Brutii had been wiped out. Units took up residence inside their cities, easy to do considering the deportation of thousands of Romans back to Greece as slaves. Now that Greece was established in Italy, plans were made to absorb the Roman attacks, before striking down the Scipii and finally the old men of the Senate.