I was playing a Vettones game (with the Epigoni mod, but without to the Hindu Kush) and suddenly thought that it could be good material for my first AAR, since it was more or less as hopeless as my writing skill. So I kept playing, but i took some notes and screenshots in the meantime. The updates will probably be of varied lenghts, but I would like to keep them kind of short.
I want to say beforehand that I will be making extensive use of the "try to assassinate someone so you get a casus belli when they execute the assassin" tactic and interpret it as "random provocations and border disputes". It might be a bit gamey, but otherwise I would be sitting among the rest of iberian minors until my time to be eaten by either Rome or Carthage came.
The objectives of the game are:
In the short term, form Celtiberia.
In the middle term, control all of the Iberian Peninsula, including the bits owned by Carthage
In the long term, survive the Carthaginian and Roman conquest.
In the lucky term, world domination :rofl:.
A table of contents:
Formative Period:
Chapter 1: Historical and geographical context
Chapter 2: The initial impulse
Chapter 3: Culmination of the tesserae expansion
Chapter 4: The Vettonic Confederation
Chapter 5: The Iberian and Tartessian Wars. The birth of Celtiberia.
Early Confederation:
Chapter 6: Calm before the storm
Chapter 7: War of the Mare I. The capture of Gadira.
Chapter 8: War of the Mare II. Of wooden walls and giant monsters.
Chapter 9: Peninsular unification.
Chapter 10: Politics, economics and culture
Middle Confederation:
Chapter 11: The return of the Greek
Chapter 12: The Second Punic War I. Opening movements.
Chapter 13: The Second Punic War II. The Sicilian campaign.
Chapter 14: The Second Punic War III. The Treaties of Leptis Magna.
Chapter 15: Consolidation of Africa.
So here comes the intro:
Chapter I: Historical and geographical context
The Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the third century BC was inhabited by a very diverse collection of tribes with more or less similar cultural characteristics. Tentatively, we could group them as follows:
A map showing the different cultural groups
-Old Celtiberians. They extend from the Cantabric Sea in the north to the lusitanian plains and well into the peninsula, to about present Toledo. This is the culture which served as the core of the unification process and much of what we say here is going to apply to the Celtiberian culture that christallizes during the following centuries. They had deep celtic roots. There is ample documentation of worship of Epona, Brigeacis and other celtic deities, sacrifices (of cattle most of the time) were common, they organised themselves in fortified hills called oppida and horses were a powerful symbol of the warrior elite. Their script was semi-syllabic at the time.
Sculptures of bulls called Verracos were common as a place marker.
-Iberians. They occupy most of the southern and eastern coast. Their origins are subject of some debate, but are possibly descended from the central-european early iron cultures. A lot of greek and phoenician influences. They had a patronage of sorts, called iberian devotio. The devotio linked an iberian leader with his most trusted warriors, his devotii, who swore to follow him even after death (they offed themselves when their leader died). Also, they were a much more urban culture than their western neighbors and tended to form bigger political units.
Stone bust of an iberian noble woman.
-Tartessians. A very phoenician influenced culture in the south east. Had seen better days. Phoenician architecture and religion with regional peculiarities. Ethnicity is up to debate, probably Phoenicians.
Representation of the phoenician style tartessian temple of Cancho Roano
There were also two other cultures of note: greek (in Emporion) and carthaginian, in the land of the subjugated Bastetani. It is precisely this growing punic giant and the need of defending against it what will serve as the main justification for the formation of Celtiberia.
The tribes of the Peninsula were in a state of division that could only lead to their fall into the hands of some big player in the Mediterranean. That is, unless they united.
Political situation in Iberia circa 290 B.C.
I want to say beforehand that I will be making extensive use of the "try to assassinate someone so you get a casus belli when they execute the assassin" tactic and interpret it as "random provocations and border disputes". It might be a bit gamey, but otherwise I would be sitting among the rest of iberian minors until my time to be eaten by either Rome or Carthage came.
The objectives of the game are:
In the short term, form Celtiberia.
In the middle term, control all of the Iberian Peninsula, including the bits owned by Carthage
In the long term, survive the Carthaginian and Roman conquest.
In the lucky term, world domination :rofl:.
A table of contents:
Formative Period:
Chapter 1: Historical and geographical context
Chapter 2: The initial impulse
Chapter 3: Culmination of the tesserae expansion
Chapter 4: The Vettonic Confederation
Chapter 5: The Iberian and Tartessian Wars. The birth of Celtiberia.
Early Confederation:
Chapter 6: Calm before the storm
Chapter 7: War of the Mare I. The capture of Gadira.
Chapter 8: War of the Mare II. Of wooden walls and giant monsters.
Chapter 9: Peninsular unification.
Chapter 10: Politics, economics and culture
Middle Confederation:
Chapter 11: The return of the Greek
Chapter 12: The Second Punic War I. Opening movements.
Chapter 13: The Second Punic War II. The Sicilian campaign.
Chapter 14: The Second Punic War III. The Treaties of Leptis Magna.
Chapter 15: Consolidation of Africa.
So here comes the intro:
The Mare and the Eagle - A Vettones/Celtiberia AAR
Chapter I: Historical and geographical context
The Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the third century BC was inhabited by a very diverse collection of tribes with more or less similar cultural characteristics. Tentatively, we could group them as follows:
A map showing the different cultural groups
-Old Celtiberians. They extend from the Cantabric Sea in the north to the lusitanian plains and well into the peninsula, to about present Toledo. This is the culture which served as the core of the unification process and much of what we say here is going to apply to the Celtiberian culture that christallizes during the following centuries. They had deep celtic roots. There is ample documentation of worship of Epona, Brigeacis and other celtic deities, sacrifices (of cattle most of the time) were common, they organised themselves in fortified hills called oppida and horses were a powerful symbol of the warrior elite. Their script was semi-syllabic at the time.
Sculptures of bulls called Verracos were common as a place marker.
-Iberians. They occupy most of the southern and eastern coast. Their origins are subject of some debate, but are possibly descended from the central-european early iron cultures. A lot of greek and phoenician influences. They had a patronage of sorts, called iberian devotio. The devotio linked an iberian leader with his most trusted warriors, his devotii, who swore to follow him even after death (they offed themselves when their leader died). Also, they were a much more urban culture than their western neighbors and tended to form bigger political units.
Stone bust of an iberian noble woman.
-Tartessians. A very phoenician influenced culture in the south east. Had seen better days. Phoenician architecture and religion with regional peculiarities. Ethnicity is up to debate, probably Phoenicians.
Representation of the phoenician style tartessian temple of Cancho Roano
There were also two other cultures of note: greek (in Emporion) and carthaginian, in the land of the subjugated Bastetani. It is precisely this growing punic giant and the need of defending against it what will serve as the main justification for the formation of Celtiberia.
The tribes of the Peninsula were in a state of division that could only lead to their fall into the hands of some big player in the Mediterranean. That is, unless they united.
Political situation in Iberia circa 290 B.C.
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