dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sun May 05, 2013 1:59 pm

Turn 12: April, 263 BC

The Roman army is still besieging Camarina while Hanno's army is now besieging Messana. The second consular army is now in Rhegium starring menacingly across the Messana Strait. My fleet which is blockading that strait, however, is running out of supplies. I send out the second half my fleet to relieve the current fleet. This is what the situation looks like in Sicily now:
[ATTACH]22462[/ATTACH]

Since my NM is so low after the devastating losses in Syracuse and the previous series of battles in Messana, I now have a set of options to increase it. Last turn I played Gifts to Tanit, and my NM went from 85 to 87.
[ATTACH]22463[/ATTACH]
This is a good option to get my NM back to 90, after which I can use the Baal ceremony. The goal is to go above 95 so I don't have a cohesion penalty anymore.
Attachments
turn12options.png
turn12sicily.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Wed May 08, 2013 2:03 am

Turn 13: May, 263 BC

First victory of the war! The Romans stop the siege of Camarina and move against my besieging army in Messana. The battle is very close:
[ATTACH]22484[/ATTACH]

I actually inflict more damage on the Romans as they retreat vs the actual battle (99 hits from the retreat and 20 from the battle). However, in spite of his victory Hanno "has been blamed for having suffered a defeat before the enemy" and loses seniority. I also didn't gain any natonal morale points for this victory.

This turn the Romans have completed the construction of a commercial port in Neapolis so it looks like their fleet building program is underway.
Attachments
turn13messana.png

dans221
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Posts: 90
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Wed May 08, 2013 2:11 am

Turn 14: June, 263 BC

It looks like I'll have to break off the siege at Messana. The Roman army is in Catania and is now fully reinforced, whereas I'm running out of supplies since the only neighbouring friendly province is Tyndaris which is pillaged. I am getting some supplies by sea from the blockading fleet, but this might force me to rotate my blockading fleets more often. Also, I moved some of the more critically damaged units to Tyndaris last turn.

This is the latest Sicily screenshot:
[ATTACH]22486[/ATTACH]
Attachments
turn14sicily.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Wed May 08, 2013 3:39 pm

Turn 15: July, 263 BC

The Romans moved to Messana but I avoided battle moving out to Tyndaris. The army is badly damaged and will need reinforcements and resupply, however, I don't have much money at this point.

I do have several units lined up for production. I had held off on building elephants and equites previously because (especially the elephants) they are fairly expensive compared to their combat power, but I had set their production in motion a few turns ago when Hanno's army was ready to move on Messana. When completed, they will fill out my troop roster:
[ATTACH]22488[/ATTACH]
Speaking of elephants, I'm hoping they will come in handy for offence because they have a useful ability to disrupt defensive entrenchments. Also anther useful ability is apparently if they do a hit to an enemy element that element gets eliminated. Does anyone if that's right? Otherwise here are their rather unimpressive stats:
[ATTACH]22489[/ATTACH]

And lastly, my Carthage army under Mago is locked for 4 more turns:
[ATTACH]22490[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]22491[/ATTACH]
The strategy right now is to hold on until I'm able to ship in fresh reinforcements to merge to the main stack.
Attachments
turn15carthageLocked2.png
turn15carthageLocked.png
turn15elephants.png
turn15carthageBuilds.png

dans221
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Posts: 90
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Thu May 09, 2013 12:08 am

Turn 16: August, 263 BC

My Tyndaris army is still in really bad shape and it hasn't been resupplied this turn. I decide to change to passive mode and move to Lilybauem where the supply situation is much better. I also move half of my fleet to Carthage to pick up the new builds and the Africa stack which will unlock in 3 turns. I've also shipped in some Iberian mercenaries who are now in Carthage with the new builds.

Speaking of Iberian mercenaries, I've concluded that I have access to more mercenaries than I can hire. Here is a comparison of the stats of the main element of newly recruited four main types: Iberian/Sardinian/Greek&Italiot/Celtic
[ATTACH]22499[/ATTACH]

One unit of Greek or Italiot mercenary pedites (Greek and Italiot seem identical) has the following elements:
6 hoplites
2 peltates
2 psiloi
total: ~140 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~25k!
spawns in Sicily

One unit of Celtic mercenaries has the following elements:
6 celtic heavy infantry: ~ 60 combat strenth / 1 CP
no Celtic replacement chits!
spawns in Iberia

One unit of Ligurian mercenaries has:
8 sardii pedites
2 sardii psiloi
total: ~200 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~10k
mountain combat bonus
spawns in Sardinia

One unit of Iberian mercenaries has the following elements
6 iberian warriors
4 iberian swordsmen
total: ~180 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~10k
mountain combat bonus
spawns in Iberia

So I developed the following rationale. Recruit Greek and Italiot mercenaries only in the case of an emergency since they spawn in Sicily, but in general they are to be avoided due to high replacement costs. Celtic mercenaries would be nice as they have the most disciplined elements per CP, but since I cannot replace them, I should generally avoid them. Preferred mercenaries are Sardinian and Iberian which have the highest combat strength, lowest replacement costs, and mountain combat bonuses for Messana. Between the two, Iberian mercenaries have high discipline which means that in combat they last longer, so they are the best type to get. Whenever I see Iberian mercenaries available, I'm going to get them. Lastly, Numidian mercenaries are cavalry.
Attachments
turn16mercs.png
turn16mercs.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Thu May 09, 2013 12:15 am

Turn 16: August, 263 BC

My Tyndaris army is still in really bad shape and it hasn't been resupplied this turn. I decide to change to passive mode and move to Lilybauem where the supply situation is much better. I also move half of my fleet to Carthage to pick up the new builds and the Africa stack which will unlock in 3 turns. I've also shipped in some Iberian mercenaries who are now in Carthage with the new builds.

Speaking of Iberian mercenaries, I've concluded that I have access to more mercenaries than I can hire. Here is a comparison of the stats of the main element of newly recruited four main types: Iberian/Sardinian/Greek&Italiot/Celtic
[ATTACH]22500[/ATTACH]

One unit of Greek or Italiot mercenary pedites (Greek and Italiot seem identical) has the following elements:
6 hoplites
2 peltates
2 psiloi
total: ~140 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~25k!
spawns in Sicily

One unit of Celtic mercenaries has the following elements:
6 celtic heavy infantry: ~ 60 combat strenth / 1 CP
no Celtic replacement chits!
spawns in Iberia

One unit of Ligurian mercenaries has:
8 sardii pedites
2 sardii psiloi
total: ~200 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~10k
mountain combat bonus
spawns in Sardinia

One unit of Iberian mercenaries has the following elements
6 iberian warriors
4 iberian swordsmen
total: ~180 combat strength / 2 CPs
1 replacement chit is ~10k
mountain combat bonus
spawns in Iberia

So I developed the following rationale. Recruit Greek and Italiot mercenaries only in the case of an emergency since they spawn in Sicily, but in general they are to be avoided due to high replacement costs. Celtic mercenaries would be nice as they have the most disciplined elements per CP, but since I cannot replace them, I should generally avoid them. Preferred mercenaries are Sardinian and Iberian which have the highest combat strength, lowest replacement costs, and mountain combat bonuses for Messana. Between the two, Iberian mercenaries have high discipline which means that in combat they last longer, so they are the best type to get. Whenever I see Iberian mercenaries available, I'm going to get them. Lastly, Numidian mercenaries are cavalry.

edit: I just noticed that only the Iberian swordsmen element has the mountain combat bonus, the warriors do not. However all the Sardinian elements have mountain combat. So Sardinian mercenaries will get better bonuses in mountain environments in general.
Attachments
turn16mercs.png

User avatar
Kaguya
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Location: Rossiya-onee-sama

Fri May 10, 2013 7:02 pm

Moar, please. How many turns you make in a day with opponent?

dans221
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Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat May 11, 2013 3:39 pm

@Kaguya: we've been averaging about 1 turn per day. There were some days when we did as many as five in a day, but there was also one week of no activity at all. We're much further than the AAR right now, it's just a matter of how often I get to update this thread.

Turn 17: September, 263 BC

The Romans imposed requisitions in Rhegium, Messana, and Rome. So I presume they're busy with further fleet-building. I'm bringing my new Carthage builds to Lilybauem this turn. I've actually decided against bringing the locked Africa stack. This is because I don't have enough CPs to effectively use all these units, unless I use Mago. But Mago has higher seniority than Hanno and he gets some severe bonuses outside of Africa. I wish there was a way to get more leaders... it looks like I'll be in serious trouble if the Romans get the second consular army in Sicily and they could just sail straight into port in Syracusae or Catania. Strong as my navy is, I don't think it's enough to maintain an effective blockade of all three ports.

Here's a screenshot of the victory screen. I make double the VPs the Romans do every turn, but I've used a fair amount recruiting mercenaries, and they gained a lot from their battles. So currently I've only got a slight lead on the Romans:
[ATTACH]22565[/ATTACH]
The big problem is my NM is close to 30 points below the Romans, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand up to the Romans when they merge their consular armies.
Attachments
turn17victoryConds.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Mon May 13, 2013 1:13 pm

Turn 18: October, 263 BC

The Roman army in Tauromentorium moved to Henna and is now laying siege. I bought some replacements, but I don't really have money to replace most of the army at this point. So instead, I maximized the army's total power by substituting some of the most damaged units with the fresh troops shipped from Carthage last turn. This is Hanno's army composition at this point:
[ATTACH]22612[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]22613[/ATTACH]
I move this army to relieve Henna.
Attachments
turn18hanno2.png
turn18hanno1.png

dans221
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Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Mon May 13, 2013 1:25 pm

Turn 19: November, 263 BC

The Romans stayed and fought at Henna, and Hanno defeated them! Whereas, the previous engagement at Messana was also a victory, it was a minor skirmish and I actually lost a lot more than the Romans because my army retreated. However, this was a more substantial engagement, with three rounds of combat (one stalemate and two victories), many casualties, and the Romans retreated taking additional hits from the retreat.

First battle:
[ATTACH]22614[/ATTACH]
Second battle:
[ATTACH]22615[/ATTACH]
Third battle:
[ATTACH]22616[/ATTACH]

I gained 1 NM for each of the victories, so now I'm up to 89 and I gained 42 VPs. The battle was very evenly balanced as you can see from the power tooltip (in spite of the fact I had a 2:1 numerical advantage!). I'm glad to see that I can actually win even combat. My early experience when Hiero led the battles was that I was doomed, but this is looking more encouraging...

The trouble is that the Romans withdrew to Tauromentorium and I can't afford to attack them there as it would unlock Syracuse. I can't afford to attack Messana because the frontage situation is terrible and gives the Romans a huge advantage. So the Romans basically have a safe haven to regroup. Their cheap replacements mean they'll be back up to full-strength whereas I can't afford to get replacements, so I need to head back to Lilybauem and rotate more units.

As I mentioned, the longer term problem is that I'm already at Hanno's CP cap whereas the Romans can still merge their consular armies.

Lastly, I make another gift to Tanit, so I'll be able to go up to 91 NM next turn. I'm edging closer to 95 NM. And the Africa army is now unlocked, so if I really need to I can rotate those troops as well in Hanno's army to keep it at maximum strength.
Attachments
turn19henna3.png
turn19henna2.png
turn19henna1.png

Gen. Monkey-Bear
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:35 am
Location: The San Francisco Bay Area

Tue May 14, 2013 2:51 am

Congratulations on your victory! Hopefully this will be a turning point in the war, though I predict some tough battles ahead.

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Wed May 15, 2013 3:01 am

@Monkey-Bear: Thanks!

Turn 20: December, 263 BC

I've imposed requisitions in Africa so I may continue to buy replacement chits. Hanno's army is up to full-strength now after rotations, and is going to Camarina to watch over the Roman army in Tauromentorium/Catania. My NM is now 91, and I'm going to use the Ceremony to Baal to keep going increasing, 1 NM per event:
[ATTACH]22641[/ATTACH]

Turn 21: January, 262 BC

Harsh weather across all of Sicily and Italia. I moved Hanno's army back to Agrigentum to keep the Romans guessing.

Turn 22: February, 262 BC

The Romans attempted to break the blockade of the Messana Strait. Needless to say, their overconfidence in engaging the mighty Carthaginian fleet resulted in a crushing defeat:
[ATTACH]22642[/ATTACH]
In fact, I presume this is their entire navy and they only fought half my fleet... so they're going to have to keep building before they stand a chance.
Attachments
turn22navalBattle.png
turn20baal.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat May 18, 2013 9:35 pm

Turn 23: March, 262 BC

I forgot to mention last turn, that my CP problem might be coming to an end soon. A 2-star general called Hannibal Acragas with 3-1-3 stats showed up in Carthage. He also has a trait "popular administrator" which increases the loyalty in a province by 1% every turn that he's in command of an army in that province. I will want to move him to Sicily to merge with Hanno's army soon so that I can add more troops to the main Sicilian stack. Here's the situation in Sicily. Hanno's army is now replenished and will move back to Henna to prevent the Roman army from moving in Henna -- the idea is to hopefully force a battle in Camarina where the terrain is clear.

[ATTACH]22738[/ATTACH]

Turn 24: April, 262 BC

There was a battle at Henna! Looks like I moved to Henna just in time to prevent the Romans besieging and gaining an entrenchment bonus if I were trying to displace them. As you can see my army has a large numerical and strength superiority. Nonetheless, due to the limited frontage I actually suffered more hits than the Romans 82 vs 63, although I dealt them an addition 75 hits while they fled.
[ATTACH]22739[/ATTACH]
Unfortunately, this was a small-scale skirmish and I didn't gain any NM points. However, I do another Baal ceremony to gain 1 NM.

Turn 25: May, 262 BC

The Romans are started building another port in Ostia and this triggered a new option for me to expand the port in Carthage. It will be hard to pay for it thought: it costs 300 denarii, and 30 EPs! I constantly need money to replace my losses so I probably won't be able to afford it until next tax season at best. Also, since I've been recruiting mercenaries, I'm nowhere near the required EPs to pay for it.
[ATTACH]22740[/ATTACH]

Otherwise, all quiet in Sicily. The Romans are licking their wounds in Catania/Tauromentorium and I'm going to force them to move to Camarina by holding in Henna.

I've started imposing requisitions in Africa so I can hopefully afford this new port eventually.
Attachments
turn25options.png
turn24hennaBattle.png
turn23sicily.png

dans221
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Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat May 18, 2013 9:48 pm

Turn 26: June, 262 BC.

No movement in Sicily. Looks like we're in a stalemate situation. I feel like I'm in a fairly strong position right now, and with the ongoing Roman shipbuilding they will eventually be able to bring their second army. I've decided to take a bit of a gamble and attack the Romans in Tauromentorium. Because of clear terrain, the frontage situation is great for me; the side effect will be that I will unlock Syracuse. However that may not be a bad thing necessarily -- this might force the Romans to have to pay proper replacement costs for their Greek units instead of paltry 3 denarii/chit for their legions. Since I won the battle in Henna, I expect to easily defeat them in Tauromentorium. We'll have to see what happens next turn....

Meanwhile, my Africa stack has to deal with slave revolts because of the requisition campaign.

dans221
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Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sun May 19, 2013 5:29 pm

Turn 27: July, 262 BC

... and nothing happens. Turns out the Roman army moved to siege Tyndaris, while I'm now sieging Tauromentorium. This is the latest Sicily screenshot:
[ATTACH]22746[/ATTACH]
However, this may have worked out in my favour. The Syracusan garrison is now separated from the main consular army and it's behind a level 1 fort, which means I can assault this turn and hopefully destroy them in one battle. It will also help bring my NM up which is now at 93. I'm a little worried that my big army in Tauromentorium will run out of supplies so I'm not sure how long I can stay there.

One minor event this turn was that Hanno Messina, the 1-star commander in Hanno's stack was removed from command. This means that I have to remove one unit from Hanno's stack to reduce my CP penalty.

Lastly, here's the current VP count. I'm 100 ahead in spite of my continuous stream of mercenary hires, requisitions, and early battle losses:
[ATTACH]22747[/ATTACH]
The Romans really have to take most of Sicily to even out the VP situation.
Attachments
turn27victory.png
turn27sicily.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Thu May 23, 2013 12:29 am

Turn 28: August, 262 BC

The assault on the garrison in Tauromentorum went ahead. It happened in two different battles, and the garrison was entirely destroyed gaining me 1 NM. First battle:
[ATTACH]22779[/ATTACH]
Second battle:
[ATTACH]22780[/ATTACH]
The Roman army broke the siege in Tyndaris and rushed back to Tauromentorium. Unfortunately for them, I now have military control of the province and enjoyed fortification bonus, so I won a decisive victory in the clear:
[ATTACH]22781[/ATTACH]
1/3 of the Roman army was wiped out, although I have to say those Roman elements sure are tough to break. Only allied elements were destroyed. I'm also now at 94 NM, so only 1 NM away from going back to no battle penalty. To build on the momentum of this victory, I ordered Hanno to march into Messana to chase the remnants of the Roman army while I can still maintain an effective blockade of the strait. Here's the latest screenshot of Sicily:
[ATTACH]22782[/ATTACH]
Attachments
turn28sicily.png
turn28tauromentorium3.png
turn28tauromentorium2.png
turn28tauromentorium1.png

Gen. Monkey-Bear
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:35 am
Location: The San Francisco Bay Area

Thu May 23, 2013 1:07 am

Wow, I thought you were losing the war before but it looks like after the last few turns you rebounded and now you control almost all of Sicily! Nice job.

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loki100
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Thu May 23, 2013 6:17 pm

indeed, very impressive turn around in your fortunes

but ... the war has a long time to go yet?
AJE The Hero, The Traitor and The Barbarian
PoN Manufacturing Italy; A clear bright sun
RoP The Mightiest Empires Fall
WIA Burning down the Houses; Wars in America; The Tea Wars

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Fri May 24, 2013 7:28 pm

Right, it's still a long way to go and anything can still happen...

Turn 29: September, 262 BC

It turns out that six days of rest in Messana is all the Romans need to go back up to full strength after being beaten soundly in Tauromentorium last turn. Two battles occur in Messana, which the Romans both win... I clearly haven't learned my lesson not to fight in Messana (it's cursed ground!).

Here are the battle results. It seems the Roman commander has a trait that allows him to deploy extra troops, which in a limited frontage situation like in the mountains in Messana can be very helpful:
[ATTACH]22794[/ATTACH]
I lost 1 NM in this first battle, and no NM in the second battle. I still ended up at 94 NM:
[ATTACH]22795[/ATTACH]
The good news is the losses were fairly light and I only lost 1 skirmisher element.

I've dispatched the portion of my fleet that's in harbour to blockade Syracusae. Since I clearly cannot fight in Messana, my new idea now is to put my army in Taurometorium and siege Syracusae. From this battle, I see that the Roman fleet is actually in Messana so it's being blockaded by my fleet.
Attachments
turn29messana2.png
turn29messana.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:23 pm

Turn 30: October, 262 BC

Bad news! The Romans managed to avoid my fleet and shipped in their second consular army from Rhegium to Syracuse. Here is a current screenshot of the situation:
[ATTACH]22897[/ATTACH]

This same turn, I've also shipped in some Africa troops with the 2-star Hannibal Acragas merging with Hanno's army in Catania. I've managed to increase the size and command of my stack. I'm not sure that I can defeat the combined consular armies, but for now with my army in Catania I'm splitting the Roman armies in two. I can't attack though -- last turn in Messana showed me I shouldn't fight there and if I siege Syracuse they could combine their armies there.

My strategy is to wait in Catania and force the Romans to make the first move. I also no longer have any need to maintain the blockade of the Messana Strait so I'm moving the ships inbetween Syracuse and Rhegium.
Attachments
turn30sicily.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:32 pm

Turn 31: November, 262 BC

Nothing happened. The Romans stayed in Syracuse and Messana. I did get a new option, which I'm going to take advantage of this turn even though it means it will delay the expansion of the military port in Carthage:
[ATTACH]22898[/ATTACH]

It allows me to replace Hannibal Acragas with Hamilcar Panormus. No this is not the brilliant Hamilcar Barca (who was Hannibal Barca's father), but since the event text says it's an improvement I should probably do it. This option says that I can only take advantage of it if my national morale is below 95. Right now it's 94, so I guess I'm lucky that I didn't go over 95 already!

Turn 32: December, 262 BC

No movement on the front line. However, poor Hannibal Acragas didn't have time to suffer any defeats and he's going to be crucified. It's tough being a general... his replacement doesn't have any traits and his stats are quite lacklustre but he's a 3-star general and has lower seniority than Hanno:

[ATTACH]22899[/ATTACH]

This is good, it means I can add more troops to my main stack...
Attachments
turn32hamilcarPanormus.png
turn31acragasReplacement.png

dans221
Sergeant
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:52 am

Sat Jun 08, 2013 4:43 pm

Turn 33: January, 261 BC

... which I promptly do. My main stack is becoming quite fearsome. I'm at 109,000 men and approximately 4000 power. Whatever the Romans have, it probably doesn't add up to this. I should be able to crush them in open-field. This is the army breakdown:

[ATTACH]22900[/ATTACH][ATTACH]22901[/ATTACH][ATTACH]22902[/ATTACH][ATTACH]22903[/ATTACH]

Maybe the Romans are waiting for the spring before making a move? Fine with me, I can keep raking up the VPs in the meanwhile.
Attachments
turn33army4.png
turn33army3.png
turn33army2.png
turn33army1.png

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