Chapter V – 245-239BC
245 BC – Treachery!
My long-term (well, about ten years) allies Dacia decide they’ve had enough of my smug Roman ways, and I find a small army sieging Patavium. My complete lack of soldiers in the North Italian area isn’t going to help here. I put together what men I can and attack a smaller contingent that is circling towards Arimium, my second city. The result is crushing defeat, as I don’t adjust my battle-style for the harder-hitting Dacian infantry. Erk. Tweaking slightly, I find enough troops for a second attack and finally manage to kill them, though with heavy losses. Tricksy.
Not wishing to lose my stride, I assault Thessalonica, and this ‘un goes well. I storm the walls with and take the towers myself. Their phalanxes are forced to retreat under the rain of arrows from their own defences. Mwuhaha. Though the square is defended to the last man, I manage to finish them off without too much hassle. Come winter, the victorious army marches north and sieges Bylazora, another Macedonian city.
244 BC – Seleucia? More like Seluciaren’t
Pontus and Egypt have been squeezing the Seleucids like a tube of colgate and today there is no more toothpaste. Oh noes! I mourn their passing by sallying forth from Patavium in concert with the troops that had just won that, ahem, “glorious” victory and for once, things go my way. A well-timed cavalry charge is enough to tip it my way and Italy is safe for another day.
Bylazora puts up little resistance after the walls are kersploded, and I add another dominion to my ever-growing empire. This is perhaps noteworthy as the first battle I have used archers in, and they prove invaluable at whittling down the densely-packed phalanxes. Here’s a valley of death moment:
243 BC – Rome 1:2 Barbarians
My hodgepodge of reinforcements siege the Dacian city of Segestica, and are attacked by their faction heir, Scyles. I decide to hide at the top of a forested hill, forgetting that all Dacian troops gain huge bonuses from fighting in woods. Sigh. A mixture of warbands and javelin volleys keep off the first wave but the second, larger wave impacts on my lines like a sledgehammer on jelly, to top it off I am outflanked and barbarian cavalry thunder into my defenceless/gormless general and in seconds they break and flee. Back to the drawing boards, I need bigger, better armies than these knock-kneed pillocks.
242 BC – Imperial March
Captain Herius is fast, also he is from the past, not just fast but from the past, captain He-ree-uss. He smashes a tentative Macedonian raiding party, killling over 800 for the loss of 11 men.
Bloody hell archers are good. He continues on his bloody warpath and lays siege to Byzantium, the last Macedonian place north of the Pelloppenes. I can’t spell that.
Marcellus on the bridge is providing plenty of food for the trolls on the Gallic border. This time, his meager forces are attacked by 500 well-armed chosen swordsmen. They break through my infantry smothering box, but luckily Marcellus rescues me with some clever decoy work. Even the chosen don’t like being attacked on three sides simultaneously. Some of the Massilian garrison split off and reinforce this vital bottleneck while I deal with the more immediate Dacians.
Now, you may remember Quintus Julius, who a few years ago saved my bottom by making good after Publius’ (hehe) legions were destroyed in Italy. He’s on the move again, drawing a new army to him, recruiting mercenaries, and lays siege to Segestica again. No surrender etc. As it goes, the Julian empire now holds around 25,000 citizens, employs just short of 10,000 soldiers, and has over 80,000 denarii in the bank.
241 BC – So lon’, Macedon
Super Captain Herius and the Wonder Legion assault Byzantium and smash it into small, bitesize chunks. The ruins get fed up and so spend their time looking all poetic and empty. All goes well until the city square, where a single enemy unit of light lancers manages to carve through all my battle-hardened principes. Gnnnngh. Luckily, my cavalry manage to make them pay and add Byzantium to the special friends group of settlements, but the loss of one thousand men is not unnoticed. The legion decide to settle for a bit before the strike at Dacia.
Quintus the awesome assaults Segestica and smacks down the faction heir holed up in there all on his own (though the enraged guy did take over 200 skirmishers down with him). He leaves a bare bones garrison and marches to the river, to check any Dacian counter. I’m considering printing up posters to celebrate his incredibility.
240-239 BC – Non-combat
Sort of. Another Dacian army sieges Patavium, so I bribe them away. Expensive but satisfying.
I take my first onager for a test run on some rebels. Quintus’ merc-bulked army besieges the Dacian capital, Aquincum. Oh, and I sign a trade agreement with Parthia. They should be far enough away not to invade me for no reason.
