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appleciders
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Lol. Now that's amusing.
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Micha
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Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany
Oct 2002
time: 06:35
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*Suddenly, the skies were darkening and soon thunder was rolling. A spine-chilling voice echoed from the hills, the oceans and the flatlands:*
Humans! You shalt not lose your faith in your gods! Never lose the faith!
*No men nor women, no animal and no plant dared to move while the godly voice sounded. Though some of the deafs were quite wondering what´s going on seeing all their fellows kneeling down... One men, particulary strong and big, raised a question:*
Why, oh Lord, why are we trapped in this endless cycle of repetition?
WHAT? You dare to speak up to me?
*Thunder was rolling, black clouds amassing above the poor soul. With a horrible noise lightnings fried the courageous fool.*
That will teach you! The gods´ ways are inscrutable. You wouldn´t understand the reasons even if I told you...
*Another man spoke up:*
Give it a try, mighty Lord! Please!
*Thunder, lightning, fried man*
Holy ****, didn´t you pay attention to what happened last time??? Stupid humans!!!
Oh well, you won´t believe me if I didn´t tell you anyway. As you wish, but be warned: You won´t understand what you hear, you will learn of wonders and techniques which are above your head...
All right: Look around you! What can you see? Amazing mountain chains, softly curved hills, fertile grounds, lush forests, beautiful beaches and the deep blue sea. You take it for granted. You think it was there from the beginning of time.
Well, you´re right with that. But who created time, who created all that you see there? The gods did! I did!
You, craftsmen! You can build the finest furniture? But without your tools, what can you build then? Nothing! Not a single chair!
Even we, the mighty gods of the various religions, creators of this world and many others, even we need tools to build. Those landscapes, those cities, those armies! They were all created by the power of the allmighty Photoshop!
Now I will confess what I think is the greatest shame. I will let you all see that even gods are not perfect (the Greek and the Romans already know):
I have lost the power of creation, I have lost the ultimate tool of divinity! I have lost Photoshop!
*The masses listened in awe, having no clue what it´s all about, but knowing this was something spectacular! A god speaking to the mortals!*
Now that you know, stop buggering me with questions. What you can do? Advance some 2000 years and invent Photoshop. Or wait for a miracle to happen. But do not lose faith!!!
*With these words the skies were lighting up again. The voice died away and only a few more people were randomly hit by lightnings as the scene turned normal...*
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Micha
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Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany
Oct 2002
time: 06:35
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UPDATE - 290 to 285 b.c.
Middle East
The Persian invasion force, almost 19,000 men, was ordered to retreat shortly before the great king died of an illness. His successor, a not-too-close relative, disliked such a volatility of leadership and thus cancelled the order. However, the messenger didn´t make his way to the Cyrenaica, he got lost somewhere near Jerusalem...
The whole Judaea province now is an area spawning revolts and self-declared liberator armies. Fortunately the „Army of Egypt“ stationed in Gaza is more than capable of putting down the revolters. Only near Jerusalem they had serious problems related to slingers aiming at their chariot drivers... Many got lost in a fierce fighting outside the city walls, where several hundred peasants prepared an ambush for the Imperial forces. However, the uprising was much too small to pose a real threat to the professionals of the Persian army.
Egypt officially joined allegiances to Carthage, ending all payments to Persia. The province of Judaea also stalled the tributes, while Phoenicia stays loyal (especially due to the hatred against the Carthagians who killed so many Phoenician sailors).
In Asia Minor there are rumours of an oncoming Lydian invasion, so the local satraps call for help from Persepolis.
Tributes:
Phoenicia sent 14 triremes, other province´s tributes add up to 38 talents.
Egypt
Joining Carthage in its fight against Persia, the Egyptian armies have started marching east.
For this purpose, the Pharao has ordered the training of 4,000 additional horsemen. They have been added to the Pharao´s army.
Greece and Asia Minor
Macedonia
Never before have the Macedonians felt that proud of their people. With military victories in the north, a healthy peasant aid program to support the poor and new territories and cities every year, they get the impression to be really the upcoming rulers of the mediterranean.
The eastern province of Thrace, incorporated by the great king Phillip II, now has a big and prosperous capital: Adrianopolis. Planned as the administrative center of the region, it was fully equipped with a variety of government buildings and huge estates. Of course diplomats and envoys have to be protected, so almost half of the city is dedicated to housing and training of a fairly large garrison.
While all basic facilities are present, the special touch is somehow lacking. This is to be blamed on the mediocre funding (for a province capital, that is). So the bridges are only made from wood, parks don´t have statues and most streets are in fact beaten paths...
However, most of the inhabitants will be either rich or too drunk to care for money, so the city attracts a growing amount of merchants, landlords and artists who seek their fortune there.
Once the temple complex is finished (lacking funds), a steady influx of foreign traders and visitors is almost guaranteed.
Not far from the new city, the gold mine of Amphipolis gets a protective force. While common crime is declining because of that, locals are suspecting some of the soldiers to raise their pay with some „homegrown“ nuggets...
The campaign in Illyria was now more a cleansweep than a real battle. Leaving the heavy siege equipment behind, Alexander´s army regained its full manoeuvrability and thus was able to use the speed and charge of the cavalry force. The unmounted light infantrists had no chance, though they fought to the last man and even managed to inflict losses to the lighter cavalry by preparing traps and using ropes in the forests...
As expected, the Macedonian allies of Eastern Moesia did not participate in the battle, and most of the higher officers doubt they´ll ever be of any use to the Kingdom...
Lydia
Because of a secret pact with Carthage, the Lydians sent 18 talents over.
Actual military help is not planned for now, especially since the Persians were reinforcing their garrisons in the area lately.
Italian peninsula
With the first sunlight of a cool day in early spring, the Roman armed forces, together with their allies some 51,000 men in arms, approached the Celtian settlements in the fertile valley of the Padus river.
Outnumbering the barbarians by 10 to 1, the fight was over before it began. The Celts were retreating over the river in order to alarm their brethren. Because of the joy over the fast victory the commanders of the Roman forces didn´t secure the bridge which thus was destroyed by the enemy.
It took the craftsmen almost eighteen days to construct a wooden bridge allowing for small groups to cross the river, while enemy archers had a hard time getting enough arrows for that many targets.
After two months the entire force had been transferred to the other banks, securing the bridgehead under serious casualties.
In the meantime the Celtic tribes have joined forces to counter the Roman threat, ammassing some 55,000 warriors. Lacking a centralized leadership and discipline, they were not able to fully use their advantage in both numbers and terrain...
But the Romans were in no good position either. Having been delayed for eight weeks, their enemies have had enough ime to prepare proper defences. Rumours go the Celts were even awaiting reinforcements from the dark forests of the northwest...
They also had to make their way from the valley to the enemy uphills, hindering their cavalry to manoeuver and tiring the unmounted troops. But then, they were Legionaries, at least most of them, and they had capable generals as well as a formidable training in both combat and tactics.
While neither side was too eager to engage the opposing force, the Romans had their orders and were already lagging behind their timetable. So the Commander Marcus Aemilius convinced the other generals to launch an attack at the start of a clear summer day. Feinting a frontal assault, the Romans were able to drive a portion of their shock forces into the enemy´s flanks; On the other hand, the feinting forces were slaughtered by the bloodtrunk warbands, especially the light infantry was soon routed...
As a result of the first battle move, the Romans have switched their position with the Celts. Now having the cavalry up the hill in the opponent´s back, the tides of the battle turned. Several charges went through the barbarian ranks, mowing them down as they were focussed on the fleeing foot soldiers...
Unfortunately the Adrian reinforcements arrived too late to have any impact, besides pushing morale and will to keep on fighting of the troops.
The poor Celtian tactics have turned this battle into a Roman victory, however few troops were left to rejoice...
Also the Celtian commander could not be captured nor killed, so he might learn from the defeat and apply his battle order.
With too many casualties the Romans decided to not continue the campaign, while news arrived from the West that the Gauls have burnt the now undefended Genua, slaughtering thousands of civilians...
Loot from the battle makes up for 32 talents.
Western Mediterranean
In Carhago Nova the construction of the „Guardian of the West“ has been sped up by additional funding, while at the same time safety is being valued higher. These days the bronze head of the statue is being manufactured, and withing a few years it can be lifted up to the body. All in all, the assembly process might take less than 5 years to complete...
Meanwhile the Carthagian troops gather in the East in order to engage the retreating Persians.
Although no order has been given to do so, the 5,000 cavalrymen of the Carthagian Defense Force have departed to aid in the sneak attack. It was called irresponsible to let 4,000 mounted warriors alone fight 18,000 Persian elites...
In the middle of the evacuation, the Egyptian fleet joined with the Carthagian one, now almost equalling the Persians in numbers. That´s been the signal for the assault! As the two navies clashed, the war elephants engaged the retreating troops, supported by a huge cavalry force. By highest order the infantry was to keep out of the fight as long as possible, mainly because it was almost impossible to determine the elephants´ targets...
Especially the first waves were full successes, cutting through the Persian lines as a hot knife goes through butter. Hundreds fell victims of the large armoured beasts as they went on their killing spree.
Only after a while the Immortals managed to put up a defensive line somehow protecting the boarding of the other troops. Of course they didn´t know it was a useless sacrifice, since the heavily loaded triremes were easy meat for the Carthagian fleet.
As the elephants could be stopped by their riders, the foot soldiers joined the fight. Soon thereafter, the Persians surrendered. 6,500 men went into slavery.
But this success came not without costs. Almost half of the war elephants had been injured and thus were of no use anymore. Many horsemen died at the lances of the Immortal defense line. But after all the victory was sound and the core of the Persian elite Corps was not only defeated but humiliated.
At the seas the outcome was less clear. The patrolling reserve navies of Persia soon arrived to relief their mates, originally ordered to bring supply to the ground forces. When they attacked into the Western force´s rear, many ship were smashed to pieces.
Several hours of extremely grim fighting followed, seeing the mighty warships sink one by one.
At the dawn of the next day, the Persians realized there was no army left to rescue, so they retreated home. The Egyptian fleet was literally non-existing anymore, the Carthagian one was in bad shape. On the way to Carthage the surviving ships went into a terrible storm, and only eleven arrived at the home port...
NPC orders / Events
- Unit costs updated to new system focussed on men/talent
-"Alexander´s Army" lost 43 Hetaires, 342 horsemen, 8 swordsmen, 167 hoplites, 419 foot soldiers
- "Illyrian highlanders" annihilated
- "Western Moesian Tribes" annihilated
- "Legion I Romana" (Publius Cornelius Scipio) lost 3,135 legionaries, 997 horsemen, 1,062 foot soldiers
- "Legion II Italica" (Fluvius Camillus) lost 2,554 legionaries, 545 horsemen
- "Legion III Latina" (Marcus Aemilius) lost 2,870 legionaries, 356 horsemen, 185 foot soldiers
- "Legion IV Augusta" (Publius Cornelius Scipio) lost 1,990 legionaries, 405 horsemen, 1,222 foot soldiers
- [Magna Graecia] "Apulian Guards" lost 1,255 hoplites
- "Ligurian Army" lost 9,435 foot soldiers
- "Cisalpine Gauls" annihilated
- "Aquilejan Army" annihilated
- "Celtian Horde" lost 5,980 horsemen, 31,680 foot soldiers
- "Invasion Force" annihilated
- "Cyrenaican Army" lost 142 war elephants, 2,122 horsemen, 1,766 foot soldiers, 880 light infantry
- "Persian Invasion Fleet" lost 182 triremes
- "Cathage Battle fleet" lost 135 triremes
- "Nile fleet" annihilated
- "Persian Fleet" lost 18 triremes
- "Fleet of Cyprus" annihilated
"Carthage Defence Force" lost 1,008 horsemen
- "Army of Egypt" lost 985 war chariots, 56 horsemen, 112 swordsmen, 545 foot soldiers, 121 light infantry
- Persia spends 40 talents on Immortals (2,600) and adds them to „Army of Egypt“
- Persia spends 75 talents on Swordsmen (5,250) and adds them to „Pisidian Loyalists“
- Persia spends 60 talents on Swordsmen (4,200) and adds them to „Phrygian Army“
- Persia redeploys troops to the West
- Sparta spends 27 talents on Swordsmen (1,890) and adds them to „Spartan Elites“
- Lydia spends 18 talents on triremes (6) and adds them to „Lydian Fleet“
- Magna Graecia spends 30 talents on foot soldiers (3,750) and adds them to „Adria garrison“
- Crete spends 27 talents on triremes (9) and adds them to „Cretean Fleet“
- "Southern Gauls" lost 454 horsemen, 1,885 foot soldiers
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appleciders
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Hey; is there room for one more? What countries are open?
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foolish_icarus
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the thievery continues
Nov 2002
time: 21:35
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In the cities of Macedonia, a peculiar saying has become popular when speaking about the population of Macedonia or its rural areas, “In the world, the earth commands the farmers, but in Macedon, the farmer commands the earth.” Even some nobles and prosperous businessmen must grudgingly admit that many farmers and rural peasants are surprisingly productive, selling surprisingly high quality and abundant quantities of produce in good years, and in turn, have a lot of money (for a peasant, they are of course still poor in currency and savings) to buy necessary goods. There are good parts and bad parts to this. A prosperous farmer will have a good plow, draft horse or oxen or donkey, adequate livestock, and a store of seeds and usually some preserved foods and wines. Some farmers do not have to worry about water, they have tidy ditches carrying water to their plots of land. But wealthy landowners are not all pleased, as the abundance of land and security of the kingdom means that hired workers and indentured peasants will run away if not treated well. Many landowners have found that it is more profitable to lend individual plots of land to peasants and split the produce; with adequate tools and animals and discretion over what they raise, peasants tend to be more productive. City merchants and artisans are pleased by the increase in prosperity and trade, and are conducting more business with rural areas and in the cities, as coin and raw and manufactured goods flow freely and abundantly (and the tax collectors are of course pleased as well!). There has been decrease in Macedonian-Greeks seeking employment in the commercial shipping lanes, but plenty of foreign sailors are happy to sign up in Greek ports, and Macedonian cargo boats fruitfully ply the seas, aided by the cheap goods and the ever profitable Alexandrograd trade. Military and naval recruiters don’t get as many would-be soldier applicants as they once did, but plenty to maintain strength in the ranks.
With a more mobile and bigger population, pan-Hellenic national pride has enthused the traditional poleis-centric ethic of identity, but municipal pride has not at all suffered because of this.
As is traditional, old enmities are temporarily set aside for the celebration of the Greek athletic games and religious celebrations. Macedonia will be hosting the games in their traditional spot, and athletes from Macedon, Greece, Lydia, the Bosporan Greeks, Sparta, Crete, and even a few from Magna Graeca.
The famous Greek hollow cast bronze and marble statues as well as the equally skilful wall paintings have as of late been exhibiting a new vitality and living quality. Some still prefer the classic still expressionless, serene poses of the aging masters, but there is something to be said for the more aware and enigmatic expressions of the new style.
These statues, along with roads, parks, academies, expanded water and sewer systems, amphitheaters, housing districts, improved ports and warehouses and mills and granaries…of course this won’t all be done at once, but anyway, even small cities will soon be seeing a taste of this new culture (or old, if they prefer) as well as the practical municipal improvements and economic aides, such as roads.
And…In the city of Amphipolis, a huge temple to all the gods, with marble and bronze statues, ivory, gold, silver, ornamentation that is most impressive inside, and the building itself will be large, structurally sound, and impressive in its majesty. Outside in the courtyard will be statues of heroes and people as well. A very big undertaking.
But not all is play and commerce. Our allies the Romans still fight the barbarians to the west, and we have the opportunity to help them.
The strengthened Alexander’s army (more on that later) will set out north, accompanied by our allies the Moesian tribes, to fight the Aquilejan Tribes. The Moesians will travel in the hills, Alexander’s army will confront the Aquilejans on the coastal plain, once they are comitted, the Moesians will come down and strike at them from their flank or rear, our cavalry will prevent them from devoting their attention to the Moesians, and both detachments’ infantry will crush or rout them, whichever is more convenient. If somehow the Aquilejans flee into the interior, the Moesians and Alexander’s army must stay together! We don’t want our forces split, and we will wait to attack (or not attack at all) until we have a tactically advantageous position.
7 talents to peasant aid. Gotta love those peasants.
40 talents to municipal and cultural improvement in the various cities.
15 additional talents to Adrianopolis’ construction.
10 talents to beginning road building.
25 talents to rockin’ good Olympic games
10 talents to start the Amphipolis Pantheos temple
Add these troops to the Army of Alexander
10 talents 1250 foot soldiers
10 talents 700 horsemen
10 talents 800 hoplites
10 talents 700 swordsmen
10 talents 650 hetaires
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appleciders
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If I could get a reminder of who's playing as who, the decision might be easier. What kind of an income can I expect from Lydia or Egypt? What do they have in terms of armies at the moment?
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appleciders
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Probably massive problems, inter-universe deals, and other such paradoxical problems. Of no importance, however, because this will be amusing to watch. I like the graphs, and if I remember correctly, Carthage, Rome, Macedonia, and Persia were the only nations under player control?
Edit: I saw on the first page that Carthage is under the control of "Nuclear Master." I'm guessing that's Lord Nuclear, since he's giving their orders?
Last edited by appleciders on 23-01-2005 at 05:15
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Lord Nuclear
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quote:
Originally posted by appleciders
Probably massive problems, inter-universe deals, and other such paradoxical problems. Of no importance, however, because this will be amusing to watch. I like the graphs, and if I remember correctly, Carthage, Rome, Macedonia, and Persia were the only nations under player control?
Edit: I saw on the first page that Carthage is under the control of "Nuclear Master." I'm guessing that's Lord Nuclear, since he's giving their orders? |
Nuclear Master is my old name.
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foolish_icarus
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the thievery continues
Nov 2002
time: 21:35
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quote:
As expected, the Macedonian allies of Eastern Moesia did not participate in the battle, and most of the higher officers doubt they´ll ever be of any use to the Kingdom... |
hmmm, I need to address this.
Macedonia to Meoesian army :
You have three options, of which we are sure you will find at least one quite satisfacory.
1. Settle back down in your villages or the countryside or our cities, become farmers or herders or artisans or merchants or whatnot. Warhorses to plowhorses, that kind of thing.
2. Accompany us, and fight with us, as outlined previously, and once the Aquilejans are defeated, settle down up there instead. Of course, you would have to be nice and not attack our friends the Romans.
3. Become permanent part of Macedonian army. You have to follow orders, but the pay is adequate, the comradeship is exemplary, you might get to see some wild places, and of course you get the enviable status of being in the ass-kickingnest army in the world.
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Apolyton Time is 00:35. |
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20-01-2005 20:43
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