Collaborative Campaign Turns 22 & 23 (Part 1)

 The Collaborative Campaign rumbles on into game year 22 (The Year of the Donkey). The dice determined that this would be a further year of peace in Picenia, however in Zigura there was religious upheaval; worshippers of Anahilda, Goddess of fertility and water proposed her promotion to principal deity of the empire. There was much rioting as the King of Kings is (nominal) head of the Temple of Taran, the Bull-headed God of War and refused to allow His demotion. At least a fifth of the standing armed forces were engaged in keeping the peace, a situation that continued into the next year...

Turn 23 (Year of the Anteater) commences with an action played out by Martin Smith (the following text and photos are Martin's intellectual property).

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  The Inconnu Incursion

Concerned by external pressures, in the form of regular cross-border raids by the hill tribes of Inconnu, Ziguran King of Kings Toshibbaz decided to act. While much of his army was busy keeping order in his own lands, he scraped together a force to teach the troublesome tribesmen a lesson, and assigned the task to a commander recommended by trusted stalwart General Amukar.

Lord Nusu, commander of the formidable Nyos Garrison Cavalry at the Battle of Arak a few years before, was summoned to the palace at Ganuk, and briefed on his new role as leader of the newly created Ziguran Expeditionary Force of Inconnu. This somewhat grandiose title ignored the reality that the troops comprising the force were mostly second rate, including as it did very few regulars, many reservists and the enthusiastic but untried Ganuk City Militia, plus a small scratch force of cavalry, all escorting a large unwieldy baggage train. Their aim, he was informed, was to locate and burn the foothills village of Chief Gezeru’s Tauroz tribe, frequent but uninvited visitors to Zigura’s northern borderlands, and thus discourage further raids.

Having crossed the northern border with Inconnu and approaching the hills, Lord Nusu’s scouts soon located the apparently deserted tribal capital, but were unable to provide their commander with any information on the enemy themselves. The tribesmen, it seemed, had vanished.

Arraying the Ziguran Expeditionary Force into a defensive formation, Lord Nusu commanded his troops to advance. Their orders were for the bulk of the force to stand ready for any threat while the Ganuk City Militia would march up the trackway, enter the conurbation, remove or destroy any foodstuffs or valuables and then raze it to the ground.

But the hills have eyes… Watching from high ground to the northeast of the village lay Chief Gezeru and his horde of loyal Tauroz tribesmen, each man armed to the teeth. Furthermore, on the hills opposite, overlooking the northwestern approach to the cluster of houses, yet another mass of warriors kept watch: normally rivals of the Tauroz, occasionally even enemies, the Zagrus tribe under their wily chieftain Suduga had put aside any differences for the chance to join a fight against the Ziguran invaders. More specifically, Suduga’s hillmen saw the enemy’s large, enticing baggage train as a gift from the gods, just waiting to be accepted into their avaricious arms, and preferably not shared with their Tauroz rivals.

As the sun rose ever higher Lord Nusu’s Zigurans marched steadily forwards, keeping formation, but with some surprise soon observed the two Inconnu tribes suddenly rise as if from out of the solid rock to their front left and right. Gezeru and the Tauroz now marched across the valley to block the Ziguran advance, expecting Suduga and the Zagrus to join them, as agreed.

Suduga, however, had other ideas and with a blood curdling scream his Zagrus warriors raced forwards to attack the enemy, traversing rocky ground with ease and maintaining their momentum. The Ziguran regular bowmen loosed a few volleys, but the Zagrus hillmen closed at an alarming rate. The left flank of the Expeditionary Force found itself rapidly overrun, despite a valiant effort by the Ganuk Militia, who fought fiercely before succumbing and routing.

Meanwhile, Gezeru and his Tauroz warband had abandoned their plan and joined the fight, not to be outdone by their clan rivals. Storming towards the Ziguran right, they met somewhat tougher resistance, archery driving some back and doughty spearmen holding them briefly in check. However, Lord Nusu’s force had been fatally damaged and demoralised by the sudden tribal onslaughts, and after a short-lived show of resistance the remaining units turned and ran, eager to avoid the wicked knives of their savage opponents.

As the Ziguran army melted away, and Suduga’s elated Zagrus warriors fell upon the abandoned baggage train, chaos reigned. And in that chaos, Lord Nusu became hemmed in and driven back against a mass of panicking pack mules, camels and donkeys, the horseman pulled from his mount by the Tauroz tribesmen and captured. This Ziguran noble, with his fine robes and expensive-looking attire would fetch a fine ransom, mused Gezeru, congratulating himself on a thoroughly successful day’s work, despite that upstart Suduga’s attempt to steal all the glory.

***

Thanks to Martin for this wonderful (and cautionary) tale. Lets hope Lord Nusu's family have the wherewithal to pay the ransom.    

Collaborative Campaign Turn 21 (Year of the Tenacious Bee)

 A fairly quiet Year across the known world, with Picenia still getting used to the idea of internal strife and the loss of Therissa (more on Picenia below) and Zigura adjusting to a new King of Kings.

Map at the end of Turn 20

In early Spring there was the regular incursion of "barbarians" from Inconnu into Northern Zigura. Fortune favoured the Zigurans as the region was being visited by General Evaskiwk. On receiving news of the barbarian's arrival in the region, Evaskiwk marched his force to their camp and attacked at dawn. The barbarian's scouts raised the alarm just in time and the two sides gave battle (apologies for the pictures that are rather dark - the sun was just coming up after all).

Early in the action the Ziguran regulars had the upper hand and it looked like they would roll straight over the invaders

Fate had other ideas and General Evaskiwk was serious injured leading from the front and had to be taken from the field

The Zigurans fought on and as the sun came up it was the barbarians who suffered defeat and fled.

Most valuable unit in this battle were the (recently added) Ziguran Cataphracts. The game was played with Dominion of the Spear (with In House rule for Commander Units).

***

News from Picenia (courtesy of Mark Cordone):

Although there was nominal peace in the north, it was only a temporary pause in hostilities as all parties tried to improve their positions.

Picenia:  Multiflavus reluctantly accept the dictatorship for the year of the Tenacious Bee as there was much work to do if Picenia's fortunes were to be restored.  The first order of business was the reorganization of the army, and the recruitment of new troops.  He forged ahead with this task with tireless determination, and succeeded in getting the Senate to vote  heavy, but one time only taxes to pay for it.  This met with only minimal resistance, even though he insisted the Patrician class should bear the bulk of the burden.
With the funds thus raised he replaced the loses of the past few years, and began the process of building a new fleet.
The Senate also voted him a Triumph, he delayed celebrating it for as long as possible, but it took place in the Eighth month of the year.  He also had the unpleasant and difficult problem of what to do about Rionach.  Personally, he was quite taken by her courage, intelligence and tenaciousness, but this was to prove to be her undoing.
He offered her the opportunity to submit, and be granted an estate outside the city and citizenship and patrician status if she accepted.  This she refused to do, but not until she asked for time to consider the offer, then attempted unsuccessfully to escape.  The offer was made again, and it was made clear to her that refusal would mean her death.  She refused.  Multiflavus then offered her the opportunity to avoid execution by suicide.  Again she refused.  Although Multiflavus was saddened by her actions, he had tremendous respect for her courage and honor.  Rather than have her strangled at his triumph, he granted her the highest honor possible and sentenced her to beheading.  She was placed in a guilded chariot right behind his and secured with golden chains.  At the end of the procession she ascended the scaffold with her head held high.  Before placing her head on the block she pronounced a curse for Picenia and all her people, then met her death with honor.  Needless to say, this put a damper on the celebrations, but this suited Multiflavus as he then made a memorable speech about the difficult road ahead, and the need for Picenia to put aside it's internal differences and pull together in this time of great trial and hardship.

Elsewhere, Anaxander and Gauius Epidus Marullus, former governor and now self appointed king of Therissa met and hammered out a defensive alliance.  Although neither really trusted the other, both felt it would be mutually beneficial when Picenia resumed hostilities.  Both felt Therissa would be the target, and Marullus felt a second front would be an advantage, and Anaxander hoped it could be used as leverage to draw the rest of the Tetrapolis into the war.

***

A grislily end for the unfortunate Rionach. What happens next is in the hands of the dice, and kind contributors!  

Collaborative Campaign

 The campaign has reached Turn 20, the Year of the Hamster. Mark Cordone, having been allowed to have a well-earned rest, once more takes up the tale...

***

The year of the Hamster saw a civil war in the north.

Enter Multiflavious the younger.

Despite the inauspicious omens indicated by the High Priests and associated with the naming of the year, the Senate decided to launch yet another invasion of Sentis.  This time, however, many of the men in the Eastern army had had enough and longed for peace.  (And many had no desire to face Anaxander on the battlefield again). The Ninth Legion mutinied and refused to fight.  The Governor ordered they be decimated in response, but the Tribune, Vettius Scato, in command of the legion refused to carry out the order.  The third legion was then ordered to carry out the order, but they too refused, and, along with men from the ninth lynched the governor instead.  The Ninth then proclaimed Scato Imperator, and the rebellion spread like wildfire through the camps and the whole of the eastern army pledged their loyalty to Scato with the expectation he would end the war. He attempted to open negotiations with the Senate, but they pronounced a death sentence on him and any soldiers who followed him.  Having no other real choice he left a skeleton force behind and marched on Areligno. 
Meanwhile, the Senate took steps to raise an army of their own.  In Desperation the turned to the eldest son of the late hero Multiflavious, Multiflavious the younger.  They appealed to his sense of civic duty and patriotism, and he chose to accept the title of Imperator, and raised an army for the defense of the Republic.
Multiflavious had very little time, and not much to work with, but he managed to cobble together a force and take the field just in time to intercept the rebels.

The Battle of Areligno (the game was played with Dominion of the Spear - Ed.)

Multiflavious decided to spare the city the horrors of a siege and offered battle instead taking up a position about a days march east of the city with a wood anchoring his right.  The nucleus of his army was the elite, disciplined first legion, garrison of Areligno which formed the center of his battle line. In addition, he had two other new legions composed of discharged veterans and volunteers, the first of which he posted on his left, the other in reserve.  Also in reserve he had his cavalry, composed of both regulars and veterans and overall, of good quality.  He also had two "legions" composed of mixed foot and horse raised from the private armies and slaves of the senators.  (Classed as unreliable missile foot).

Scato deployed his veteran army as follows:  his archers in front of the woods, the 7th legion in the center and the 9th on his right.  His cavalry and the elite disciplined 3rd Legion were in reserve.  He was not expecting much difficulty as he opened the battle with an advance by the 9th, but much to his surprise they were thrown back in disorder, and on the left his archers were also routed.  

His cavalry stabilized his left wing and the 3rd moved up on the right.

Meanwhile in the centre the rebels scattered the first legion, who had no stomach for slaying their countrymen...

and then the new 2nd Legion sent forward to take their place.  On the right the third routed the Republican legionaries in front of them and things were looking grim for Multiflavious.

In desperation he put himself at the head of his cavalry and told his aides, when in doubt, charge!  

Still sorting themselves out from their melee, the 7th were scattered by the ferocious charge. Seeing the danger, Scato rode forward to order to 3rd to turn to face Multiflavious's cavalry wheeling to take them in the flank.

This he succeeded in doing, but as his men were still closing up to repel cavalry Multiflavious struck, and they crumbled.

Seeing this his cavalry promptly surrendered, as did almost the whole of his army.

The Republic was saved!

Elsewhere:  Anaxander wanted to take advantage of the situation and invade Lussatia, but his priests told him the omens were bad, and more importantly the rest of the Tetropolis refused to support an offensive war and flatly stated that should he lose, they would not defend Sentis, so he was forced to cool his heels and await developments.  This did not prevent him from trying to stir up trouble, however and his agents made contact with Rionach in the north and convinced her to return to Lussatia to lead a rising with subsides and promises of support.  Early summer saw her come down out of the mountains with around 1000 Wend and Luss warriors.  However, when she moved to join up with a substantial force of Luss warriors she found she had been betrayed and they, along with several cohorts of Picenian troops ambushed and destroyed her force.  She, along with a few score survivors were put in chains and marched off to Areligno.

On Therissa however, things took a dangerous turn for Picenian interests.  The governor, Gaeius Epidius Marullus, declared the island free of Picenian control and himself as king of the island.  In possession of a veteran, and loyal to him, army and fleet, he was convinced to take the plunge by the merchants and nobles of the isle.  In exchange for their support, he lifted the duties and tariffs imposed by Picenia, and waived the payment of the rest of the indemnity.  The Tetrapolis however, was still wary of him and tabled, at least for now, his request to join the alliance.

Sensing an opportunity, Anaxander sent his own envoys to Terissa to propose a meeting......

***

Thanks, as always, to Mark for creating a silk purse of a text from my brief pig's ear instructions! Picenia's past successes seem to be in jeopardy. Where will things go now?

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 4

 Today's post (text/photos being the intellectual property of Mark Cordone) sees the conclusion of the fighting in the Northwest for the Year of the Hyena. Mark used the Two Hit variant for Dominion of the Spear that I discussed in the previous post.

Please note: There were more photos provided by Mark than are featured below - for some inexplicable reason I have had a lot of problems downloading them. Hopefully normal service will be resumed in future.

***

The Battle of Lycaeum

Following the battle of Aricia, the leaders of the Tetrapolis met to decide what to do.  Anaxander lobbied hard for an invasion of Lusatia, but in the end, it was decided to take advantage of the destruction of the Picenian fleet and mount an expedition to liberate Therissa.  Cleomenes, Strategos of Cyraeus was chosen to command the army and at the end of the summer they set sail landing on the northern coast of the island on the 16th day of the 9th month of the year of the Hyena.

Cleomenes consolidated his position then marched east and then south to attack the capitol city that gave the island its name.

Gaeius Epidus Marullus was governor of the island and faced a difficult situation.  The landing of the Tetrapolis army had stirred up considerable unrest, and he also knew there would be no chance of a relief force until at least the middle of the next year.  He did have a tough, unbeaten veteran army however, so he decided his best chance of success was to offer battle.  This he did on the last day of the 9th month of the year of the Hyena.

The day dawned cool and bright as the armies deployed on the open plain north of the city. Marullus placed the 4th Legion in the left sector, his archers in the center and the (veteran, disciplined) 3rd Legion to the right.  The equally tough 2nd Legion and his cavalry were in reserve.  All in all he had 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry under his command for the battle.

Cleomenes had some 10,000 armored phlangites which he divided into two phalanx's and deployed them on his left and center.  On the right were a further 5,000 spearmen. In reserve he had another 5,000 Marines from his fleet, his 3,000 cavalry and a further corps of (unreliable) peltasts, natives of the island who had joined his army on the march.

The battle opened with an advance on the left, but the phalanx was unable to make any headway and the combat ground on without result for the rest of the day.

In the center the Tetrapolis phalanx also advanced but was met with a deadly hail of arrows and was put to flight.  Cleomenes ordered his marines to fill the gap but was unable to rally his broken phalanx.  The Marines were able to best the archers, but the second Legion moved forward and filled the gap, then cut up and dispersed the Tetrapolis sailors.  As this was happening the 3rd Legion defeated the spearmen in front of them, then shrugged off the hail of javelins launched at the by the peltasts who moved up to hold the line.

Cleomenes committed his last reserve, his cavalry to the center but they were unable to make any impression on the 3rd.  The second quickly put the peltasts to flight then outflanked the horseman in the center.  Together the two legions made short work of the Tetrapolis horseman and the battle was lost.

The pursuit was merciless with some 5,000 Tetrapolis soldiers along with their general taken prisoner.  Of the rest barely 2,000 made it to the fleet and managed to escape.

The crushing victory at Lycaeum went a long way towards mitigating the two defeats earlier in the year, but would the fighting continue next spring?

***

A disaster for the Cyraenian Tetrapolis when it appeared that things were looking up. Thanks to Mark for another splendid report (apologies again for my problems with the photos that are all visible in Outlook btw).

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 3

 Autumn in the Year of the Hyena witnessed a large horde of mounted raiders moving from the steppe lands of the territory known in the "civilised" world as Inconnu. Their purpose unknown, the horde arrived in the small Northern province of Qushia. The local Satrap, Rostam Anoraq, had had a peaceful life up to this point, paying the minimum amount of tax he felt he could get away with, and avoiding being dragged into State politics, wars etc. Having prudently eschewed the demands of the real world for many years, suddenly the real world had turned up on his doorstep in the form of a few thousand, hairy, smelly barbarians on horseback.

Progress of the not so golden horde

The following battles were fought using Dominion of the Spear with a 2 Hit variation for some units, an idea that was kindly sent to me by Mark Cordone (published originally on Facebook?). All of the units of the Horde are mounted, but two have the "ferocious" bonus; this gives them +1 in combat. If these units are hit, they remain in combat but lose their bonus (they are shaken) for the rest of the battle. If hit again they are eliminated in the usual way. I like this variant as it makes special units a little less vulnerable as benefits their status as exceptionable warriors.

Battle 1 - The Oasis of Shapoor

The Horde has arrived at a watering hole and settled down for a week or so, plundering the local flocks and farmsteads for victuals and scaring away the caravan traffic that uses the oasis. The Satrap, fearing a loss of revenue from the caravans not to mention the tedious complaints from his people, orders the Headman at the nearby town of Baqusra to send the town garrison to chase off the invaders.

The Zigurans put up a good fight but are bested and driven off.

Battle 2 - The Battle of Baqusra

Having consumed all the local flocks, the Horde rolls on to the little town of Baqusra. The remaining town garrison, bolstered by some Provincial troops, has had a little time to set up temporary defences (strangely the tax money that has been put aside for the construction of town walls has disappeared).

The Horde's luck runs out at Baqusra, and those lucky enough to avoid the arrows judiciously turn tail and head back to the steppes. On hearing the reports, Satrap Anoraq breathes a sigh of relief and puts his curly toed slippers back up on a nice comfy cushion. 

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 2 (or "Release The Kraken")

 Today's episode chronicles the next part of Picenia's attempt at further expansion into the Cyraenian Tetrapolis; an invasion by sea. Note: Text and Pictures are the intellectual property of Mark Cordone. The quote in the title appears in the movie Clash of the Titans (1981). Interestingly the Kraken is apparently not an ancient Greek myth but is Scandinavian in origin.

***

The Battle of Aricia

The second part of the Picenian offensive was to have the fleet set sail from Therissa escorting transports carrying the army of Gaius Epidus Marullis to land and attack the city of Kartos.  The Picenian fleet was composed of some 120 ships crewed by the victors of the battle of Cape Ecnomus.

The last two years had seen the Tetrapolis rebuild its fleet, and although not as skilled as before the disaster, they were every bit the equal of the Picenians in both quality and quantity.  They were commanded by the Navarch Demios of Cyraeus.  Spies had informed him of the Picenian preparations, but none knew for sure what the destination of the expedition was.  Consulting the Auguries, Demios decided to base his fleet in Kartos and await developments.  They were correct, and as the fifth month of the year of the Hyena drew to a close, fisherman reported the approach of the Picenian armada.  Demios put to sea and met them off of the coast near the sleepy fishing village of Aricia.

Both fleets were composed of six squadrons of approximately 20 ships each, and each deployed three squadrons in the first and second lines.  Mirroring each other, both admirals were with their right hand squadrons, and both planned to turn the others left, the Tetrapolis in shore and the Picenians opposite them.  (I used my Dominion of the Oar and Ram rules, both fleets having six squadrons of regular rams.  Play progressed from the Tetrapolis' left to center to right and back again until the battle was resolved.  This took a total of 17 rounds of combat to complete.)

The combat began with admiral Salinator's squadron making contact first.  Fortuna turned against him on this day however as his flagship was armed and sunk as the battle began and both he and his crew perished. 

As the sharks began to gather the combat spread along the whole battle line.  Despite the loss of their admiral, and perhaps to avenge him, the Picenians got the upper hand early, sending many Tetrapolis triremes to the bottom and attracting the attention of a Kraken that laired nearby.

As the battle progressed the ships of the Tetrapolis evened the score as both fleets became fully engaged.  A general, confused melee developed which saw the allies gain the upper hand.  The Picenian right wing then gave way and then the center followed and the remnants of the Picenian fleet scattered, but managed to reform and hold on long enough for most of the transports to escape. Aided by a favorable wind they bore the army back to Therissa.

Thus did the grand Picenian offensive come to an end in utter defeat.

Meanwhile the rulers of the Tetrapolis met to plan their next move and celebrate their victories in Kartos.

***

Thanks to Mark for another Kraking game report. Picenia has been thwarted for a second time; it's becoming a bit of a trend. Please stay tuned for more action...