Play as the Macedonians!!

[BlanketofFlame]

quote, by Mad_BOB:

actually, contrary to popular belief, the macedonian phalanx (called the Foot Companions) wasnt the most devastating of Alexanders forces. his Companion Cavelry, has been labled the best heavy cav to have every exisdted by some historians, even better than mongol cav, and the Royal Bodyguard shock troops were the predecessors to the roman legions swordsmen. it was these troops jobs to break and rout an enemy army so that the foot companions could chase them down. the phalanx only really came into play then defending, as its 18 foot sarrissae allowed the first 5 or 6 full ranks of soldiers to fight at the same time, but over rough ground its small shields ment that it quickly broke formation when charging, so would often be routed in this way. this force was only ever defeated once, and then not under alexanders command, by an ambush from forests in modern afganistan.

The Phalanx was the most devastating unit of attack in the ancient world. THe word Phalanx is Greek for 'battering ram,' so even its name suggests attack. The Phalanx would line up in tightly knit formation, with its shields overlapping. The large spears they used extended out of the front of the 5-6 man deep front line up to twelve feet, and each man behind the front man sent his own spear out of the front line, creating a porcupine like death trap. Once the phalanx was on level ground, it would charge in formation into the enemy's battle line. And if on retreat, the phalanx could create a near wall of spears, allowing them to hold of even the toughest of enemy charges. The companion cavalry were in play just to prevent the phalanx from being flanked by enemy cavalry, and, due to the lack of stirrups and large enough horses, was a unit of harrassment. No cavalry charge could ever move a heavy infantry formation such as phalanxes. Being that, the companions were the best cavalry of their day.

 

[Vasileius]

From all these posts , the most close to truth was mishmash's ... And maybe Paulos's post ...

Anyway , why to play with the Macedonians ? And replacing the Greeks ?
Macedonian Empire is just a part of the Greek history . The "Hellenistic" Period .
The Greeks in game, cover a period from the Mycenean Civ , to the Macedonian Empire . A Thousand years . And back alive in the modern ages .

The special about Alexander , was that in 11 years
(334-323 B.C.) he conquered an area , from today's Kazakhstan to India and Egypt . With 37.000 men . By foot . Defeating millions of troops .

P.S.* Macedonia was ( and still is ) Greek . I don't know what you think , the early 90s , we had a crisis ...
The Greeks wanted a Panhellenian Union , BUT each one of the strongest states wanted to be the leader . That's why the Peloponnesian War started between the Athenian Alliance and the Peloponnesian Alliance . Philippus ( borned in Thebes of Voiotia ) had the same vision . To unite the Greeks, under his rule , of course ...
P.S.** Do you know that Alexander was the first man , named as "Great" ?

 

[Vasileius]

*oups double posting*

D*mn ... why I can't edit my posts ?

 

[FeFalcon]

Ok I read most of the 1st page and none of the 2nd page and I was getting bored by this so Im not sure if someone has already said this but, Phillip II was most important but not most famous leader of Macedonia because he didnt conquer the whole known world of that time. Also Phillip did not conquer all of Greece he conquered only North Mountain area of Greede, Thrace, and the area north of him, also he had allies in the rest of the North(sorry dont have names for the areas cant find my book.) . The Greeks hated him and feared they might conquer them but he did not but he might of planned on it. So Thebans and someone else maybe Athenians attacked him at the Battle of Che..something,remember i dont have my books, and they lost badly, this was also the first battle for Alexander he led the charge of the Right Calvary on his Black Stallion. Then the Greeks asked Phillip to help them destroy and conquer Persia for their burning of some Temple in somewhere. He was planning it when he fell to a disease, Alexander took up his fathers job and dreams to conquer Minor Asia. Only reason Greece stayed with him was because he was helping them destory Persia for them. Most of the Nations he conquered were simarilly conquered by the Persians so they gave up without a fight, Egypt and Israel(examples). Also when he did conquer Persia he then attacked the very end of the Persian reign in the Kush Mountain area, conquering Princes who were allies of Persia. Then he swept towards India, he fought a battle with the Indians he won even thought they fought War Elephants and had great casualties. The Mughal Leader at the time promised peace and Alexander accepted and the Mughal Leader gave him 40 War Elephants as a tribute. He then left to Babylonia, he was beginning to burn it when he put out his own fire. He later died there when he was planning on leading a campaign along the Eastern coast of Africa. He was truly nice to the people he conquered they led the same lifes but under Maedonian rule, he sent his men abck, because he prefered the middle eastern asian people better. He ended up marrying the King of Persia;s daughter and some other high man's daughter.

 

[FeFalcon]

Sorry for double post but I just read 2nd page and I see what its about, ok ALexanders best men were the Macedonian Phallanx, it was tightly close the first 3 soldiers in line would have 12 foot spears sticking out with shields connected, the rest of the line behind held the spears like this ||//, so it ended up looking like this, ||||//--, the spears up would knock arrows down. But the horsemen were the most favored they won many of the battles by swift manuevers and the wedge attack that gained them a foothold into enemy formations.

Also today Macedonia is its own country not part of greece its capital today is now Skopje.

Also the ancient capital during Phillip the Second and Alexander was Pella.

 

[Aendolin]

Wow, so many different variations of Alexander's life...

Here's what I heard...

Alexander's drinking problem may have been caused by a wound he received after assaulting an Indian city before leaving the territory. His lung had been stabbed, which brought intense pain everytime he breathed. He had this affliction until he died. This may have encouraged him to drink heavily to reduce the pain (I only heard of him drinking heavily after returning from India; correct me if I'm wrong.)

That came from Military History Magazine if you're interested in the source.

As for whether he was a genius or not...

Alexander was the first successful user of all 4 types of field units on the same battlefield (light and heavy infantry and cavalry.) The alone marked him as an innovator. He always charged in with his cavalry, however, which made it impossible to give any additional orders during the battle. So he essentially just gave his men the basic plan, wound them up, and let go.

His ability to adequetely feed all his troops while hundreds of miles from home should be noted, as well as his success in acclimating the conquered people to his rule.

(Source: Art of War in the Western World, Archer Jones)

Anyway, Alexander should probably stay the leader because Civ III tends to use the most famous leader from a civ and not the best ones to lead it, putting Phillip out of the competition (Joan of Arc wasn't even a French ruler.)

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

P.S.** Do you know that Alexander was the first man , named as "Great" ?

Alexander III the Great of Macedonia 336 - 323BC
Sargon I the Great of Akkad 2371 - 2315BC