This was my second session of playing the ongoing "House of Brutii" imperial campaign in
From the beginning of my campaign, I resolved to make use of an unregistered copy of
Sizing up my situation at the beginning of the session, I was back down to three settlements (Tarentum, Croton and Apollonia) and my faction had taken some losses in the recent wars against Macedon and the Greek Cities. My forces were still holding out, but the battles had been costly. I needed to turn things around,
I now started my second session of the 2010
At any rate, it was past time that I had some heavy infantry of my own. I was itching to get some principes into my legions!
The first thing that I wanted to do was to get my spies active again. Manius was still parked up near Salona with an eye on the Illyrian frontier controlled by Macedon, so I couldn't divert him in case Euenus or any of his kinsmen would move towards my remaining settlement at Apollonia and the men garrisoned there. That left me with Luca, who had rendered such good service against the Greeks who invaded Epirus a few turns before. He would be my choice to send into Thermon to gague the garrison's strength and, perhaps, enable Titus's troops to make the assault without having to pause to build siege equipment.
It was time to go to work.
The first thing that I did was take stock of the situation
This was the overall situation for my fellow Romans, as well. There was no breakout by either
I did a quick review of my overviews to see what shape I was in.
According to the Senate overview tabs, I would satisfy their assigned mission to blockade Corinth with less than 4 turns to go. This certainly fit their current mood about Macedon. My standing amongst the Senate itself was on a level with that of my rivals, which was above 50% in the approval ratings, but my ratings amongst the people were in the tank (20%, or two seals on the scale compared to
My next task was to go through the overview of my lists, I still had 6 generals. Aulus Brutus was the faction leader, governing Apollonia with young Cassius. Amulius was the faction heir and governor of Croton. Vibius Brutus was governor of Tarentum, with young Cornelius attending.
There were four navies under the command of the following admirals: Caius, Luca, Marcellus, and Cnaeus. I then reviewed my settlements and agents.
This, then was what my list told me about my faction's generals, captains, and agents:
- Aulus Brutus (Age 49, governor of Apollonia and faction leader, with a garrison of 306 men)
- Amulius Brutus (46, governor of Croton and faction heir, garrison of 180)
- Vibius Brutus (45, governor of Tarentum, garrison of 144)
- Titus Brutus (25, commander of the army in Epirus, with 433 men)
- Cassius Brutus (29, residing in Apollonia with Aulus)
- Cornelius Brutus (22, residing in Tarentum with Vibius)
- Admiral Caius (20, commander of the navy blockading Corinth)
- Admiral Luca (26, commander of the navy awaiting units for ferrying from Epirus for retraining)
- Admiral Marcellus (24, commander of the navy blockading Patavium)
- Admiral Cnaeus (21, commander of the navy in the Adriatic awaiting orders)
- Caius Flaminius (38, diplomat currently abroad in the region of Assyria)
- Appius Porcius (51, diplomat current abroad near the borders of Cyrenaica)
- Decius Ovidius (45, diplomat abroad in Attica)
- Manius Cincius (31, spy abroad in Dalmatia)
- Luca Antonius (38, spy abroad in Macedonia)
- Amulius Brutus (46, governor of Croton and faction heir, garrison of 180)
I reviewed the family tree to see what I had there. It looked like I was going to have to get some new generals soon; I had to eligible bachelors since Oppius was killed in that AI-directed suicide charge in the battle against the Greeks besieging Apollonia in the previous year. The only available daughter was a widow (her husband was the governor of Salona who died that heroic death when the Macedonians took it).
I took a quick stock of my Senate Offices list. Aulus Brutus was now Aedile. Gaius Scipio was Quaestor. Vibius Julius was Praetor.
Politics as usual in Rome...
I also took a look at the overall Faction Ranking, selecting a few other factions to compare mine to: Macedon, Egypt and Thrace. Egypt looked set to do its bit as the Big Yellow Blob™ again, while only the Thracians seemed to be lower down than me. Times sure are hard when some barbarians have better rankings than a Roman.
My next step was to go through the options. With Caius being within earshot of an Egyptian diplomat, commander or governor, I might as well check to see who they were allied with before asking for something. It appeared that they were enemies only with the Seleucid Empire and generic rebels. Their allies were Parthia, Pontus, and Armenia.
I had Caius offer the diplomat Mutnodjmet Kasaros an alliance, trade rights, and a map exchange. He refused, citing lack of means (which was probably more like "No, we
Before advancing the turn, I went back to check on those Macedonian armies that were observed by Luca the spy. The one led by a captain named Abantes was only a single unit of peltasts, but it could be at the gates of Appolonia, if he wanted to take them there.
It was time to roll the dice. After setting up the savegame, I clocked the hourglass. The Senate immediately assigned me a new mission: blockade Sparta.
For setting up the blockade of Corinth, they would give the old Nod And Wink™ for my faction's political ambitions. However much that'd help would depend upon whether I would still have someone eligible, what with the concerns about Macedonian armies moving into town and all.
The end of turn (EOT) financial report looked good:
Macedon was now trying to get more spies into the field after their boy Aegisthes bungled his mission (by sneaking up on old Tiberius in the commode). These boys were getting better at it. This one escaped.
Tarentum was now doing its part as a hastati factory, although I was still wanting to make some progress and get some heavy infantry ready. I couldn't make ends meet by continuing to hire mercenary hoplites for too much longer.
The international news report was of a ceasefire in effect between Armenia and the Seleucid Empire. Perhaps the little silver men were getting the upper hand in this war.
For my part, I decided to send Decius Ovidius to King Antigonos in Macedonia to see if I could get a little breather for myself. He simply refused to give me the ceasefire. Ho-hum.
Things looked tense now. Macedonian and Greek armies were gathering around Epirus and I needed to know what was coming. Since my spies could only manage one mission per turn, I chose the one with the most chances for success and put Luca Antonius to work, while Manius Cincius continued to play Tonto and scout out the surroundings to try and catch unseen army movements.
Luca got a deeper look at this half-stack commanded by one Philip:
Believing myself to be looking at the onset of another siege of Apollonia, I started scrambling units. The first order of business was to retrain those depleted units which were just ferried back from the battles in and around Epirus. Tarentum added another unit of hastati to these. To shore up Titus's line, a backup unit of town watch were recruited at Apollonia.
In the meantime, I left Titus in place with a fellow general in the woods east of town to wait in ambush in case one of the enemy armies decided to pass that way, and to intervene in the case that the town was besieged.
Right now, Captain Abantes was near the northern borders of Epirus. There was also a strong cavalry force led by a captain named Asphalion just a bit closer to me. I realized that Titus would have to strike this one, if there were a chance of disrupting the Macedonian plans.
In the meantime, I was also eyeballing the Gallic navy which had managed to slip through the blockade Admiral Marcellus was laying on Patavium. Matugenus was a lot smarter than his predecessors, though... his paltry crew only numbered 15 men on a small boat.
In Assyria, Caius Flaminius tried to get the map exchange with trade rights with the Parthian general Achaemenes. No deal, Flaminius! Try again next time. He was, however, able to get a simple trade agreement with the Egyptians instead.
As I clicked the hourglass again, the Macedonian navy commander Eumenis decided he was up for a battle with Admiral Luca. Luca only had one bireme with 21 men, and Eumenis looked like he was a stronger force with 28 --
Luca only sustained one casualty; Eumenis ran off after losing eleven of his. A clear victory. He must've been attacking me with a serverely depleted pair of biremes or a raw recruit trireme crew.
The EOT financial report for Turn 31 (Summer, 254 BC):
My retraining and recruitments for the army in Epirus were complete. All that was needed was to gather everyone together under Titus and strike at the Greeks near the borders. He had driven off the Macedonians within Epirus without a battle earlier and they stayed out.
Other infortion included the report that Croton was expanding, that another Macedonian spy escaped capture after being caught at Apollonia, that Cornelius Brutus war married to one Urgulania, and that a bireme crew from one of the fleets had completed retraining at Tarentum. Finally, the diplomatic information mentioned two wars breaking out: Spain against the Gauls, and Egypt against the Numidians.
The first thing that I did this time was get Admiral Cnaeus's crew down to carry out the Senate's orders and blockade the port of Sparta.
Having done that, I checked on the remaining ship blockading Thermon, commanded now by Admiral Quintus, and saw that it badly needed retraining. There was a bit of shuffling that had to be done if I wanted Quintus to have a full crew after the recent activities of the Macedonians on the waters. Admiral Luca was the bireme commander whose crew had just been retrained, so I was thinking of swapping the job to him.
Now, I was to select Titus's army and send him into Aetolia to harrass the Greeks.
Even though he had the Greeks withdrawing from the battle, I felt that it wasn't time to risk more men in a pointless battle without being certain that the Greek armies weren't being held back. So I left him near the border after chasing one army away.
Meanwhile, I got my diplomats Caius and Appius continue to observe anything they came across while abroad. Caius was near Damascus, which was being besieged by an Egyptian army commanded by a general named Kiya. The Seleucid Empire was on its last legs.
It was at this time that I got a pleasant little surprise. The Gauls had sent their diplomat Senaculus of Sabis to Tarentum to speak with the governor, Vibius. He brought a simple offer for a ceasefire. I had Vibius accept it, seeing as the Gauls showed no real interest in a land war at this stage and were probably feeling more of a direct threat from
It was here that I got to advance the turn, and right on time the Greek Cities decided to try and break the blockade on Sparta. The commander of their 31-crew ship was one Chrysogonus. I was fully expecting to see Cnaeus zip away with depleted crews.
To my surprise, it auto-resolved a victory! An average victory, to be certain, but still a victory...
The first thing that came up from the information scrolls on Turn 33 (Summer, 253 BC) was the Senate assigning another mission to me: take Thermon. A quick glance around the campaign map showed me that I might be delayed in following through on that mission. Nonetheless, I was set to begin recruiting fresh troops for the Greek war.
For my efforts in blockading Sparta, the Senate gave me another freebie and threw games in one of my cities at their expense. The EOT financial report showed the effects of recent recruitment and retraining orders.
The diplomatic information also showed me that I wasn't the only Roman faction other than
With the campaign map showing that Macedonian armies appeared ready to march upon Apollonia, with one already inside of Epirus, I directed Titus north with his now full-stack army to confront the invaders.
Meanwhile, the spy Luca was kept busy in Aetolia, getting a close look at the Greek armies gathered near the border. Captain Sekoundos had the strongest army, with a fair complement of heavy infantry and missile cavalry, supported by a smaller army commanded by one Eurykrates. To the south, outside the walls of Thermon itself, Captain Menalcas had another 7-unit army waiting. However, there was a fourth Greek army lurking in Macedonian territory east of Larissa, commanded by Captain Casambus, which looked very strong. My decision to delay sending Titus to take Thermon looked timely.
Advancing to Turn 34 (Winter, 253 BC), I didn't get any further challenges from either Macedon or the Greek Cities. My EOT report looked better than I expected, probably because I held off on retraining depleted units for now.
The Macedonian escape artists continued doing their thing at Apollonia. I realized that I was going to have to use my spies for some counter-espionage duty, so I pulled Manius Cincius back to watch the town gates. However, he wasn't quite up to the task, so I ended up bringing Luca Antonius back instead.
My faction announcements were a mixed bag. Cornelius got an idiot savant for a neat little boost to his management and tax income effects. However, Don Aulus got a pet idiot, which reduced his influence and made him more succeptible to assassination. I had to get Aulus the hell out of there!
The diplomatic information reported that
This turn was spent ordering the construction of a practice range at Croton. Aulus was going to be parked there with a unit of velites which needed retraining, so now was a good time to order that building. Maybe those priests of Juno would could steer Aulus away from that dolt the Greek goddess had stuck him with...
Now, I had to get Titus into action again. Captain Casambus was approaching the eastern border of Epirus with a 15-unit army which looked to be much stronger than the one Sekoundos was commanding in the south in the previous turn, so I sent him into Macedonian territory to challenge him. Casambus withdrew, so instead of tying myself down in hostile territory and risking an army-depleting battle at this stage, I brought Titus back into Epirus to wait for any further action on the part of the Greeks or Macedonians.
Advancing the turn again, I got the EOT battle alert from Admiral Caius at the port of Corinth. The Macedonians had fielded a bireme commanded by one Archilochus in an attempt at breaking the blockade. Caius got a clear victory:
The Greeks subsequently showed me that they might've been drinking too much Macedonian wine (they normally drink it watered down a bit, like having Bud Lite in place of a strong brown ale). Their diplomat Linus of Thessaly approached Vibius with demands for my becoming their protectorate, to which I basically said, "You're tired of fighting me? How about we just stop now, no conditions. Accept, or we attack."
Linus wasn't very reasonable at all. We fight on.
The EOT finances reflected a round of build orders, retrainings and recruitments that were going on.
The diplomatic information showed me something really unusual, but which shouldn't have been surprising given the way diplomats get around in
Decius Ovidius was sent to Larissa to meet with Gyras, the governor of the city, with his own offer for a ceasefire. Given the attitude of the reception, I wasn't quite surprised that he refused. I guess it's something in the Macedonian wine after all...
With the potential for continued hostilities, I decided to send reinforcements to back up Titus's army near the Aetolian border. Remembering what happened to a general that was sent in the last AI-controlled backup, I sent this one without a general, so their commander was a Captain Oppius. A good decison, for when I advanced turns again, Greek armies were out in droves!
Turn 36 (Winter, 252 BC) had Titus and Oppius being opposed by no less than three armies: a 17-unit army commanded by Captain Menalcas, and two smaller reinforcements commanded by the captains Triptolemus (1 unit) and Pittacos (3 units). Titus had his work cut out for him.
With the battlefield pretty much set up for me, I took my glance of the EOT reports:
Amongst these was my first report of a faction getting destroyed: the Seleucid Empire. I had wanted to take these guys on, just to unlock them later and have the opportunity to show the world what
I had units being retrained and recruited at Tarentum for the Greek war efforts, still. And the diplomatic information informed me that the other Roman factions had decided to reopen hostilities against Macedon, which was good if they would actually make moves against them. I could only hope that this was what was keeping the Macedonians at bay for now.
My diplomat Appius Porcius had reached Egypt. He was now taking a look at those pyramids and that sphinx at Giza.
Enough distractions! It was time to do battle. Titus and Oppius directed their efforts towards the biggest target in sight: Captain Menalcas.
- Titus Brutus (697 men), and
- Cpt Oppius (129 men) versus
- Cpt Menalcas (550 men),
- Cpt Triptolemus (41 men), and
- Cpt Pittacos (108 men)
- Cpt Oppius (129 men) versus
826 Romans against a combined 699 Greeks. The odds were actually a little bit in my favor, but I was concerned about flanking maneuvers by the cavalry in their armies.
Prior to starting the battle, I arranged Titus's men in a series of lines, with the velites and mercenary peltasts forming a screening front line with the hastati, flanked by the mercenary hoplites in the second line. The third line was comprised of reserve hastati guarding either flank with the Cretan archers and town watch behind the center with Titus. His associate general was stationed behind the right flank, while the three equites squadrons were stationed beyond the left. The idea here was to try and get the Greek army locked up to allow the cavalry to get in to strike at them from their vulnerable right.
Reconnaisance of the battlefield showed that there was a nice hilltop my right towards the back corner on which I could place my men. I decided to park it up there and see if the Greeks would try and come at me. In addition, it'd put me closer to my reinforcements, who might come in at that direction.
Which they did. However, I realized that the Greeks were probably too far away and would not likely make a mad charge up towards my position like some barbarian tribes have been known to do. I had to take the fight to
Menalcas's reinforcements would arrive on the spot sooner. Pittacos only had to join the right flank from a short jaunt. Triptolemos's lone hoplite phalanx was trudging along from the far right of the battlefield. I started moving Titus into his new position with the reinforcements from Captain Oppius coming up behind.
My second postion was going to be on a little knoll between the Greek lines and my starting position. I was hoping that they would advance on this position and take a few hits before I had to do any serious engagement.
As I came towards them, Pittacos's men joined Menalcas's line, while Triptolemos was still lumbering on his way in.
Oppius's reinforcements weren't far behind me. They were just coming over the crest of the hill that I had moved Titus down from.
I changed the plan just a little bit, putting Titus's men right in the midst of the trees at the top of the knoll. There were a few of Menalcas's men already moving ahead, so I decided to let the skirmishers have their way with them.
Opppius acted true to the AI reinforcement rules, charging past my lines to take the bait being lured out. Just as I saw the missile cavalry from Menalcas's left flank come charging out, I knew I had to act.
Titus and his associate general were to charge past the infantry lines to engage the enemy horsemen before they could get any of their darts into my men.
While they were engaging the enemy cavalry on the right, I drew back my mercenary peltasts who had depleted their ammo and reserved them for mop-up duty. The rest of the skirmisher line was directed to help back up Oppius's men and pepper any other hoplite phalanxes which got engaged with them.
Triptolemos would be the first of the Greek captains to fall, his lone phalanx having been caught by Oppius out in the open and sent running. While my generals were engaged with the enemy cavalry behind their left flank, I decided it was time to send the equites on their flanking maneuver.
The equites reached the wooded hill to Menalcas's right, where Pittacos and the other light cavalry were stationed.
At this stage, I realized that I might as well ungroup my skirmishers and cavalry from the rest of the army and let them do their thing while the infantry were brought up to engage the Greek lines. Oppius, I could see, was well on his way towards becoming the Chicken Kebob Of The Week™ (if he wasn't killed, he'd be turning chicken after a few pointy sticks got into him).
The equites did their job splendidly. Overwhelming one unit of militia cavalry, they turned and caught up with Captain Pittacos himself and killed him. Meanwhile, my generals were picking off Captain Menelcas himself while in the process of picking off the light troops backing up his phalanx.
My men were wearing down the infantry on Menelcas's side. Individual hoplite units had started routing. I had started to direct units from my side to engage them: the hoplites to lock them down, and the hastati to take their flanks.
It didn't take long after that for the rest of the army to break and run. All that remained was the matter of mopping up, which could be done by my cavalry and whatever infantry units were closest to the routing Greeks.
Once the last of the enemy fled the field, it was a clear victory. The battle results broke down like this:
- Titus Brutus (572 kills, 676 of 697 men remaining)
- Cpt Oppius (54 kills, 63 of 129 men remaining)
- Cpt Menalcas (48 kills, 31 of 550 men remaining)
- Cpt Triptolemus (8 kills, 4 of 41 men remaining)
- Cpt Pittacos (38 kills, 33 of 108 men remaining)
- Cpt Oppius (54 kills, 63 of 129 men remaining)
The battle stats would show me the difference between an AI-directed army once more and how I was doing as a human directing Titus's units. There was going to be quite a bit of mergine depleted units and retraining whatever was left over.
Titus got a trait increase (command star). He also got a veteran centurion in his retinue, which improved his personal safety and gave him a command boost when leading infantry units.
And that was it for the day. I could still try my hand at taking Thermon, but I was concerned about the lurking danger of a Macedonian army coming by way of either Salona to the north, or via the passes in the east. However, that would be a challenge to take up in the next session.