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Ablamor

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Apr 16, 2008
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Hi everyone, this is my first aar and i hope you will enjoy it. I'm a french canadian so you might see a lots of grammatical errors, but i'll do my best. I took an armenian proverd as a title since i didn't know what to choose. I was hesitating between this one and "The dogs, who fight among themselve, unite against the wolf". I've only set some basic rules for this game, projects will probably pop up during the gameplay.

Rules: Hard difficulty, Hardcore game (no reload).

When Alexander the Great was on his dying bed, his marshals asked him who should be the heir of his kingdom. On the verge of death, he spoke one word: "Krater'oi". As soon as the word came out of his mouth, the birds stopped to sing outside and the sun suddenly disappeared behind the clouds. An argument soon emerged within his men about the meaning of this one little word... Did Alexander say that the heir should be Craterus, the best officer of his army? Or did he say that the kingdom should be given to the strongest. Scholars of the entire kingdom soon came to debate about this question, while the marshals were all plotting to become the unique heir. Before long, accusations of foul play were being thrown about by his generals at one another, and no contemporaneous source can be fully trusted. And so, one day, the words about Alexander reached Mithranes ears. The satrap of Armenia didnt wastes his time and declared himself King of Armenia! With him, a New World would emerge from Europe and the Orontid dynasty was ready to forge it...

However, Mithranes realised early that he wasn't the only one ready for a fight. The Seleucid to the South could wipe him out whenever they want. At west, some greek city states were also waiting for an opportunity to backstab Armenia. The only real "friend" that Mithranes had, was some unworthy Iberians. Since Armenia wasn’t considered a rich country, Mithranes urged to sale citizenship amongst the people in order to stabilize his rule. Loyalty is the first step of global domination after all!

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To make sure he would attract even more citizen to Armenia, he even started to promote some freemen to bigger position. Like this, Mithranes would also get more popular among his people and maybe one day he could be worshipped like a living God. He also started to promote the discipline amongst his men and made sure that the heart of his troops, the heavy infantry, would be ready for carnage anytime!

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After having set his new policy upon his Kingdom, the King of Armenia started to gather one quarter of all his capable men. He promised them glory and fortune for becoming is permanent army. 2 regiments were created, one with 15 000 men (2000 archers, 13 000 heavy infantry) and the other of 7000 men (6000 heavy infantry, 1000 archers). With this new army, Mithranes had a feeling that his west border with Pontus should now be safe, however the King was stalking at the Seleucids every day. As time passed, Mithranes almost forgot about his nemesis, but one day he woke up and had an urgent message from a spy. The Seleucids were under attack by Egypt! Without further need of information, Mithranes gathered his men.

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Mithranes: “Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble man; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of Armenia! I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. (i took this part from a Queen, now try to find which one)

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As the war started, Mithranes was rather positive that he would win this war, even if the Seleucids had more men than him and 2 times is manpower. He marched with his army toward Commagene and it didn’t took long before the city falled to him (7 martial). The strongest man of Armenia, Shapur Caporid (7 martial), was besieging Antioch when the Seleucids showed with reinforcements. A 17 000 man army was charging Caporid and it didn’t took long before the Armenian army was running back to the mountains. The Seleucids instead of choosing to pursuit the Armenians troops chose to siege Sophene. Displease with the situation, peasant from the capital soon rose up to make the King stop this selfish war. Most of them were thinking that the gods had left them and that the king was being dumb, or worse, crazy (I guess you could call that lack of wisdom!).

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Even if the King was displease with what was happening in the capital, he couldn’t just leave the battlefield like a coward in front of his enemies. However, one day, a man named Palacus Madyid came to his army and offered his service. Judging by the appearance of the man, it didn’t take long before Mithranes recognized a hero within him. A man destined by god to help him in his quest for domination! The next day, a man who was once a hunter became the general of the army of Armenia. Soldiers were also starting to think that the king was crazy, after all, he did had some drinking habits. Some even saw him running naked in the royal garden, but that’s another story…

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Even so, the King went back to Armenia to stop the rebellion and also asked for reinforcement from those unworthy Iberians. Celebrating the upcoming aid from the Iberians, the great priest invoked the god of fertility without the consent of the King. Fortunately for him, everything went well and maybe Mithranes was truly under the gods light!

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A little south of there, near the border of Armenia, Palacus was running with his troops towards the Seleucids troops. When Palacus arrived, he realized that the Seleucids were assaulting the castle. He waited until night when the troops were asleep and attacked them resulting in a real destruction. While the Seleucids had lost over 4000 troops, he only lost 28 mens. When those news arrived at the ears of the King, he was pretty amazed and he started to gaze inside is beer mug.

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Mithranes: “Damn, I totally forgot why I was riding back home on a horse… Wait, I forgot to bring my troops back… “

Maybe fate had truly played a role of dice after all… Well, one night after when Mithranes wake up with a headache, he had even better news. Not only did Palacus succeeded in the pursuit of the running troops, but he annihilated them all. The enemy lost around 10k troops while he lost a mere 259 men.

rome_12.jpg


That’s when, in the books that write the memory of time, an historian wrote that Mithranes swore to the gods that he would never drink again since he gave him a chance to achieve his dream (Was it lie?)! Anyway, while the King was drunk, Egyptians achieved the victory over the Seleucids. Almost as soon as the King had to sell some pieces of his own fort to support the war effort, Pontus joined in the crusade against Seleucids on their own accord and Egyptians secured a peace treaty granthing them Syria and Phoenicia.

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Those were bad news for the King… He looked behind him where the barrel of beer was standing, then stood slowly on the ground and started to walk toward it… He then put his hands slowly over the barrel and thought that he couldn’t write “the big A” on the map without the 2 provinces that took the Egyptians (that’s an inside story that you’ll discover later on)… What would happen of the country now that the Seleucids had secured themselves from the biggest threat. More importantly… What would happen to the King’s habit of drinking… Find out soon in the next Episode!

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I might post again tonight, but don't be too optimist. I hope you had a great time reading and if you got any comments i'd be happy to read them.
 
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Hey, glad to have you here and good job so far on your first AAR! Your English is pretty good too! Keep up the good work, I'll be reading along! :D
 
A very nice AAR Ablamor! And I agree with demokratickid, your English is pretty good!

And considering the origin of your quote: Here's a mad guess. Was it Zenobia, queen of Palmyra and great adversary of the Romans in the mid third century?
If it shouldn't be here I've got a backup guess. :D
 
Nope, it's Zenobia, but nice try. The Queen i'm talking about is not that old. Let's say that she even "fighted" against Spain and it made her quite popular :rolleyes:

Anyway, i'll start writing the next chapter right away.
 
Mithranes who was overflowed with fear about the news from the front, took the empty beer mug over the barrel. He then slowly put some beer in it and when he was about to taste the liquid with his lips, another men barged in the court.

Mithranes: “What the…”

Counselor: Majesty… Your oldest son just died… from illnesss…

The shake of the news made the king drop the beer mug on the floor. Mithranes crawled on the floor as he started crying. The heir was dead, and the dynasty was left with only 2 boys (Gobryas and Sarsamas) and 2 girls left.

A whole night then passed until Mithranes finally showed back in the court. He seemed a little bit tipsy at first sight. With what’s left of his mind, the king gathered another 2000 men from the capital consisting of only light infantry. He ordered that every cities should do the same in order to siege every single city of the Seleucids! Since his most cherished son had died, the king was ready to go along with him to hell.

rome_16.jpg


While Mithranes and 4 other groups of 2000 peasant regiment were sieging the western most province of the Seleucids. Palacus (Known as the Wolf) was chasing every single army that the Seleucid had in what was the biggest part of their Kingdom. While Mithranes was away, one of his daughters was being taught the basic of the Greek school and she soon mastered mathematics, physics and literacy.


When the king finally ended to siege the western part of the Seleucid Empire, he came help Palacus. It didn’t take long before every provinces fall to his control. Mithranes, in a stroke of madness, even waited for the Parthians to revolt against their oppressor, but it was in vain. He finally gave a harsh peace deal to the Seleucid. They would cede to the King of Armenia the city of Adiabene, Antioch, Kirkuk, Mygdonia and Babylon (since Syria was took I need a good city for some cash and maybe in the future, a decent amount of citizen). To had even more disrespect to his rival, Mithranes also requested a monthly tribute.

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The Seleucid were no longer the superpower the once were. The war they had with Armenia and the Egyptians opened a wound that would probably never close back.

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To celebrate the victory, Mithranes tried to invoke the god without success. A beer mug in a hand inside a temple was probably a bad choice…

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The news about the victory of Armenia over the Seleucid went rapidly. The Seleucids scientist who were living in Armenia gave Mithranes a nice gift by presenting him an Armor while the Seleucids aristocrats enlisted in the kingdom army as the future cavalry of Armenia! However… The gods played a little trick to Mithranes while he was busy fulfilling is ambition. Rome, the almighty, stepped a foot in the region, causing the King Mithranes to once again fall into the depth of his drinking habits…

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Rome took all of Bithynia (don't know how they managed to annex them, they had 2 provinces) and took the two other province from Pontus. Sadly, i took that picture before i realized they landed near me. As you can see it's year 482 and i played until 495. I might stop to play and get some feedback about your suggestion of what to do, but i'll see about it in time.

I'm also sorry if i dont have many picture about my war with the Seleucids. The war was getting ugly eventually because the Seleucid showed up with a stack of 30k men. I had around 25k men (including 5-6k mercenery) when we fighted in the mountains in my province and i was so happy to realise they had mostly mercenaries. The rest was mostly ping pong war, my 15k regiment facing mostly 2-3k each time. I honestly couldn't have make it without Palacus coming to my court, all my genereal had 7 martial, while theirs had 9. I also needed to assassinate a guy with 10 martial, and my 7-7-6 guy got caught and executed :(

The sad thing about this war is that it drained me 19k manpower. Does it get worse later on with Rome being near me? Does the Seleucids strike back? Will Mithranes stop drinking one day? Who knows? I do... :D

PS: I realized at that time (482 avc), that if i had also took Syria and Phoenicia, that a huge A would have appeared in the map. I guess Mithranes gave me some of his bad habit that night... hehe
 
You've done a great job smashing the Seleucids! Now the only question is: concentrate on the East or go for mastery of Asia Minor.

And now that you've given me those hints the queen you were quoting from must be Elizabeth I of England. God I hope I got it right this time otherwise I will feel like a real fool.:wacko:

~Lord Valentine~
 
2nd round: Gods vs Mithranes

The war with the Seleucids being over and the romans being at the door of his Kingdom, Armenia who stands alone need to find worthy allies in order to counter any threat. Mithranes decide to send an emissary to Egypt and Macedonia to proclaim their guarantee against any possible ennemies they could face.

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While being busy with the administration of Armenia, Gobryas, the new heir, just caught a sickness unknown from doctors. He became rather unhealty these days while her sister is becoming real crafty. In fact, she was able to become the ruler of her playground. Knowing this fact, Mithranes was starting to think that he might need a woman as his heir since his sons seemed under a curse.

rome_29.jpg


Such unimportant thought were however soon dismissed from the mind of Mithranes who was busy celebrating his victory with Palacus. Wine was poured in quantity in the capital and everyone was celebrating the Wolf and Mithranes for their victory. During that night, Mithranes decided to put forward a new policy. Since Armenia now had a direct connection to sea, the pirates who were roaming around should be chased and killed on sight. Armenia could only go better without them.

rome_32.jpg


Everyone? No... The brother of Mithranes was the only one not attending the celebration, in fact, he was deceive to think that he had lost his place to Gobryas as the heir. Maybe was he the one responsible of the curse of Gobryas...

Mithranes, still thirsty for blood, choosed a new target to make sure the coffer would always stay full. He turned is eyes on the Colchis, a little tribe living mostly of hunting. With a war against them, not only would Armenia engage them, but also Rhoxolani. Mithranes, after making sure his army was ready, decided to take the lead on his own. He led an army for 12 000 men and was succesful during his campaign. The battle were easy because the armenians troops were outnumbering them 2 for 1, but the loss were higher then anticipated. It was the price for the lack of leadership of Mithranes. However, he compensated those lost by having a feast after each victory and he soon got some loyal cohorts who would spread among his generals to keep them under his palm.

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The good news didnt last long however. The Seleucids sended an envoy to inform Armenia that they would no longer pay their tribute. Without thinking about the situation of his kingdom, Palacus who stayed at the capital decided to cut personnally the head of the foul. A huge celebration was then held in the capital (+1 stab). What the armenians didnt know however, was that Mithranes who came back that very day, decided to make preparation for his 2nd war with the Seleucids.

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Still... The gods werent on Mithranes side (i always miss my omen when i do it on my own...) since Palacus was maimed. When the king heard about the news of the situation of his general (7 martial now...), he decided to capture his family and put them under jail. Should he try to suicide again, his family would follow the same fate. He then sent a no name at mygdonia to face Seleucid greatest general. The battle was swift and the huge for armenia were terrible. Without men to replenish the army, the situation was desperate. If only the Kingdom fate wasn't in the hand of a man who tried to kill himself, the odds would probably be better...

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In face of great danger, Mithranes ordered the recruitement of mercenaries. He then gathered every single man he had into a huge army and sent them under the direction of Palacus. The Wolf should head through Edessa and aim for the ennemy capital to end this war quickly. Even with an army of 18k men, Palacus didn't go farther then Edessa. He met a strong resistance and even with the Armenians fighting for the glory of the Kingdom, the battle was a huge carnage. Over 6000 armenians died for a mere 257 seleucids... Gods were cruel and fate was making things worse for Armenia...

rome_44.jpg


In a desperate attempt, Mithranes who was drinking his sadness, decided to gather the best assassins of Armenia. The target was easy, aim for Seleucids best generals in order to give back some momentum to the troops. Even if Seleucid's grestest general died in his sleep, the assassin was quickly discovered and killed.

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While Palacus was busy with the siege of Seleucia, Mithranes offered a peace deal to the Seleucids that would save his reputation from the world. He asked them for a small monthly tribute and it was soon accepted. Both countries were of the same force and no one could hope to kill the other. With no one to refill the army, Mithranes was looking in the future with fear.

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Even if the result of the 2nd war didn't go as planned for Mithranes, the Seleucid had lost another huge piece of their empire. The Parthians had decided it was time for them to move on and a new rival of Armenia appeared amongst the chaos.

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Even if those were sign of better days for Armenia, Mithranes was still displeased with everything going on.


During this war i must admit i was really afraid of losing all my gain so i decided to secure at least a tribute. When i realised Palacus had lost 2 martial point, i already had lost over 10k men. At this point i was really pissed and i was hoping that Egypt or Rome don't enter in the mayhem. Rome was fighting Carthage and Egypt even if she's my natural rival doesn't seem to want a piece of me for now. I'm kind of happy that Parthia showed up at this point and i was hoping to get better relations with them to make an alliance, but they are my natural rival so i doubt it will go the way i want. So even if lost all my men and Palacus became maimed, at least Parthia showed up and took a huge bite of the seleucids territory.

Let's meet up for the next episode: The Death of The Wolf
 
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Since there's a new patch out i'll look later on tonight if my save game is compatible. If it is, fine... If not... We'll it will all depend on my mood to continu this Aar or not. I got really attached to my little kingdom, it was going rather smooth even if i had more and more challenge from the Seleucids (this part isn't written yet). My main problem was manpower and guess what... They fixed it in the patch :eek:
 
Yes please continue! Find a way, will you? :)

I have just checked and confirmed that this AAR would hold the coveted spot of the longest named AAR if continued.

So if we may not convince you, maybe a record will :D
 
I think you should continue. It looks good so far. Never seen a successful Armenian AAR and it would be nice for a change. I find it quite impressive that you managed to win against the Seleucids at all. You had help from the Egyptians of course but even then it's not evident. It would be great to see how you fare against the other Mediterranean first rate powers.
 
I just finished trying patch 2.1 and i've got to admit i'm impressed (i played with Armenia again). I personally think there's a lot more challenge. So i'll post a picture of my current kingdom after 20 years of play. I'll let you guys decide if you prefer the story of Mithranes the drunkard (he's going to die soon :mad:) or his son Umamaita who inherited the Kingdom at the age of 1 years old (Mithranes died almost right away in patch 2.1).

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3 civil wars underway on version 2.1. They are in Carthage, Armenia and Seleucid.
 
I just finished trying patch 2.1 and i've got to admit i'm impressed (i played with Armenia again). I personally think there's a lot more challenge. So i'll post a picture of my current kingdom after 20 years of play. I'll let you guys decide if you prefer the story of Mithranes the drunkard (he's going to die soon :mad:) or his son Umamaita who inherited the Kingdom at the age of 1 years old (Mithranes died almost right away in patch 2.1).

rome_map_5.jpg


3 civil wars underway on version 2.1. They are in Carthage, Armenia and Seleucid.

What ever you like, they both sound interesting...
 
Tomorrow i'll update the aar. You'll find out at that time if i started a new one or not. Your curiosity won't be in vain (even if you came here expecting an update :rofl:)