Imperator Dev Diary 2020-14-12: The Longest Diary

[PDX_Chop]

Salve! Joe from Content Design here, and it’s my turn to take you through some of what we’ve been cooking up for our upcoming expansion: Heirs of Alexander. This time it’s missions for the Antigonid kingdom, with some other content treats thrown in. This is probably my favourite Diadochi realm, featuring towering personalities, compelling what-ifs, and an interesting underdog story.

Antigonus the One-Eyed’s is an often overlooked Diadochi state (heh), remembered for its defeat at Ipsus and outshone by the more enduring Seleucids and Egyptians - despite the fact he enjoyed decades of dominance, had an immense impact, and left a gripping story of fortune’s cruel reversals.

His domain’s disappearance only a few years after our start date offered an interesting design challenge, with only the preceding history and what the ancient historians wrote of the characters to guide their immediate objectives. I wanted to allow for the interesting possibilities of an alternative-history Antigonid victory, as well as the historic flight of the dynasty to Macedon after Antigonus’ defeat, and of course please those who just want the big yellow ‘fridge’ to crash and burn as quickly as possible.

In the end, the Antigonids received three mission trees, the first two focusing on their historical struggles in our period, and the third offering some alt-history fun.

Antigonus’ Vision
By the game's start, Antigonus has already spent the twenty-nine years since the battle of Issus slowly consolidating his power from Celaenae, his capital in the satrapy of Phrygia, and at this point the fall of his kingdom was perhaps difficult to imagine.

Having remained in the west of Alexander’s empire, Antigonus was not caught up in the excesses and adventures of the eastern expeditions. As a member of Philip II’s generation, he perhaps viewed these ventures more soberly than the younger royal companions he would later face, especially given the murder of his closer contemporaries Cleitus the Black and Parmenion by the king.

Having already almost lost everything fleeing from the regent Perdiccas soon after Alexander’s death, Antigonus has reconquered his holdings and beaten the Perdiccan satraps of Anatolia, including the famed Greek general Eumenes, whom he chased all the way to Media. Persia has since been abandoned to Seleucus, the satrap of Babylon, but, despite this, Antigonus rules over a vast realm, stretching from the Hellespont to the Euphrates and Judea.

He has recently declared himself joint basileus - king! - with his son Demetrius after the naval victory over Ptolemy at Salamis, simultaneously elevating his dynasty from petty nobility to royalty, claiming his lands as independent from the authority of Cassander in Macedon, and introducing his heir to his eastern subjects early to ensure a smooth transition upon his death.

To guarantee his dynasty’s survival, he looks to reverse recent setbacks in the Diadochi wars and develop his new capital Antigoneia as a center of power at the crossroads of the east, ensuring the fruits of decades of statecraft are not seized by Alexander’s jumped-up bodyguards and remain in the family.

The main branches focus on the long-held ambition of securing Greece, starting with the strategic city of Corinth, and on keeping the other Diadochi in check, with diplomatic and economic opportunities along the way.

Antigonus’ relations with the Greeks, particularly the Athenians, Ionians, and Aeolians, is one of his main legacies, epitomized by his Tyre proclamation, which promised to protect the autonomy of all Greek cities. His overtures not only secured alliances, but also provided vital manpower to bolster the Macedonian armies depleted by decades of war.

Many of the later great cities of Syria were arguably merely renamed by the Seleucids, and were in fact originally settled by Antigonus using veterans of the Argead army, which passed to his command from Antipater’s at Triparadisus. For example, Apamea was originally given the reassuringly Macedonian name of Pella.

Avenging the recent setbacks of his mishap-prone son Demetrius will be a pressing concern, the defeat at Rhodes being particularly galling given Ptolemy’s involvement.

Ultimately, the Antigonids will aim to unite all Greece, revive Philip’s League of Corinth as a protectorate, and declare themselves as the true successors of the Argeads.

Of course, all that is moot if our favourite cyclops fails to hold his strategic bastions or cannot conquer Corinth from Cassander before he dies.

The Antigonid Cause Wavers
As before, falling short will trigger an event, but whereas in the past the Antigonids had to choose between releasing Asia to Pergamon or taking a large hit to their stability, subject loyalty, and legitimacy, I wanted to better depict the consequences of the real-life ‘post-Ipsus’ partition, splintering the Antigonids in predictable but differing ways depending on their chosen path and drawing the other Diadochi into conflict over its results.

The Antigonids can now decide to go west and stake a claim to the turbulent Macedonian heartland by forfeiting Asia to the other Diadochi, or to hold on to a diminished core of eastern territories but lose their sway over Greece.

Going west, the Antigonids retain only Greece, Cyprus, and the Phoenician city of Tyre, with the Diadochi carving up their other territories as they did historically. Caria and Cilicia go to the short-lived satrapy of Cassander’s brother Pleistarchus, though Macedon may also choose to take the land themselves, while Thrace receives the vassal satrapies of Sardis and Phrygia, ruled by the treacherous governors Docimus and Phoenix who defected from the Antigonids after their defeat.

Historically, Demetrius and his son Antigonus II went on to dislodge the heirs of Cassander and other pretenders in Macedon, their family ruling there until those garum-guzzling Romans ousted Antigonus the One-Eyed’s great-great-great-grandson Perseus a century and a half later - not a bad innings. As a result, going west is required to unlock the next mission tree, which I’ll discuss soon.

Going west will also temporarily halve legion and ship upkeep, allowing the Antigonids to maintain a semblance of power despite their territorial losses, though their subjects will not be happy to remain under their thumb.

Staying in the east on the other hand will now cost them Greece, Cyprus, Bithynia, Asia, Palestine, and the Euphrates - if they still hold them that is - along with the old stability and other maluses.

What’s that? The third option? Well, if failure isn’t your jam, you can always game on. Per-game-on. (Please forgive me.)

That’s right, you can switch tags to the newborn satrapy of Pergamon, ruled by the Attalids (if they are still around) as subjects of Thrace. If you do, the Antigonids will be taken over by the AI and splinter along the lines of their first option.

Pergamon will of course be created shortly after the partition of the Antigonids anyway if you do not wish to play as them.

In the fallout, if not before, you may also see Mithridates stake his claim to northern Anatolia, and it is now possible to play as a Mithridatic Pontus by starting as Cius or Pontus and interacting with new events.

These changes to the Antigonids splintering, Pergamon, and Mithridates, are part of the Marius patch and thus will not require the Heirs of Alexander expansion.

Macedonian Aspirations
As explained above, this mission will only become available if the Antigonids have failed to achieve their objectives and choose to abandon the east, continuing Demetrius’ campaigns in Greece. I wanted to give the player a choice between surviving in Syria or returning to Macedon to carve out a new home, and add content that not only allows for the fall of the Antigonids but adds to the game as a result of it. It’s also an interesting challenge to give up one of the largest Hellenistic realms and start again from scratch.

The main branch focuses on conquering Macedon, with diplomatic options based on historical events and the ability to complete certain Greek focused tasks from the previous mission if they were not completed before Antigonus’ death.

Historically Demetrius was well treated by the other Diadochi immediately after Ipsus, their diplomacy with him indicating that his legitimacy and usefulness as a rightful king was not diminished by the near total loss of his lands; Seleucus going so far as to marry Demetrius’ daughter, though the warm relations quickly faded once it became clear her father had not accepted defeat.

By securing Thessaly, the historic port city of Demetrias may be founded as a bastion of Antigonid power in northern Greece, and a lasting stamp of Demetrius’ influence on the region.

Given the right circumstances, the Antigonids can also benefit from the infighting of Cassander’s sons in their quest for Macedonian clay as they did historically...

Antigonid Birthright
The final tree relies on the second having been completed, and gives the Antigonids an incentive for alt-history reconquest, returning to reclaim their lost lands in Asia.

This imagines a scenario in which the Antigonids are more daring and less willing to forfeit their dynasty’s achievements than historically, allowing them to move your center of power back to Antigonus’ capitals and avenge the defeat of your founder, if you so wish.

The branches of this tree guide you in reconquering important parts of the old kingdom such as Cyprus, Phrygia, and Phoenicia, creating a dominant naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean once more, and recreating the historical subjects you may have lost previously, such as the Ionian and Aeolian Leagues, if so desired.

Claiming the land of your ancestors will of course prove the ultimate victory of the Antigonid dynasty as Macedonian successors, whatever defeats they may have suffered in the past, and finally avenge the treachery of those who betrayed Alexander’s most capable successor.

Phew. If you made it this far, your patience will furnish you well until the release of the Marius patch and Heirs of Alexander expansion. Until next time!

 

[Trunting]

looks nice

 

[MAHak]

Christmas vacations.... (Zeus, Jupiter, Bhaal and the rest of the gang does not approve)

 

[maxk94]

Christmas vacations.... (Zeus, Jupiter, Bhaal and the rest of the gang does not approve)

But Sol invictus does

 

[DC123456789]

Does this mean that if you do manage to take Corinth, or if you decide to stay in the east, you'll only have access to one unique mission tree as the Antigonids?

 

[Basileus2]

Man, these missions trees are fantastic!

But...how in Jvpiter’s name will we survive without another DD until the new year?!

 

[Sadday]

I loved that you can change tags and became Pergamon, very cool!

 

[Jiben]

 

[tpapp157]

Looking good.

A while back there was talk of a subject state rework, potentially as part of this update. Is that the plan or will it be pushed until later?

 

[trjacobin]

Lord Lambert, looks like you have your work cut out for you...RIP your vocal cords

Seriously though, all these changes...it just speaks one thing:

RELEASE A BETA FOR US YOUR LOYAL BETA TESTERS!

Now, go and rest with your well earned holidays Dev team!...and stay safe!!

 

[Lord Lambert]

Gotta say, the last 2 mission trees, Antigonids and Thrace, were a big improvement over what has come before. I much prefer these 2 to the ones we got for Seleukos and Egypt.

Enjoy your holidays, devs, and we'll see you when we escape 2020 <3

 

[PDX_Chop]

Does this mean that if you do manage to take Corinth, or if you decide to stay in the east, you'll only have access to one unique mission tree as the Antigonids?

Yes that's true, though there is another mission tree available for any successful Diadochi that they will also have access to - to be discussed later

 

[MohawkWolfo98]

I hope that the AI Antigonids can also go either of these pathways, ie maybe collapse and form antigonid Macedon, be strong etc?

One of the things I didn’t like about the game is that always the Antigonids were always there. I’m hoping that with these new awesome missions the AI could branch out as well

also, what do u mean when u can be a protectorate over the League of Corinth? Are there proper leagues now or am I looking too much into it?

Finally, I’m super super excited about these new missions. They look absolutely fantastic, and a bigkudos to the devs for putting in all this research!

 

[Tomikek]

Gotta say, the last 2 mission trees, Antigonids and Thrace, were a big improvement over what has come before. I much prefer these 2 to the ones we got for Seleukos and Egypt.

Enjoy your holidays, devs, and we'll see you when we escape 2020 <3

I can understand why someone would prefer something over the other, but the key here is in presentation and not in content. I think it would deeply sadden the content designers that their missions were less liked and for that reason I wouldn't compare devs works aside each other.

 

[Samitte]

Maybe rename Sardis to Lydia? Sardis has no predecessor - Lydia does.

 

[Chrisbee]

Oh great. More time wasted on useless mission trees.

 

[TheMadEmperor]

This is a -very- comprehensive update, and we are going to take the time to get it right.

That's nice, take your time.
Is crucial that everything is right and bug-free, as it will dictate what the life of I: R will be like going forward.

 

[Paghalay]

That's nice, take your time.
Is crucial that everything is right and bug-free, as it will dictate what the life of I: R will be like going forward.

After I realised it would be months before the release I broke my Paradox Paradox and just went back to playing Imperator. I'd rather wait another 9 months and have a perfect and incredibly comprehensive update.

 

[Indyclone77]

Awesome stuff as always