This time I decided to choose the Northern strategy and abandoned the South. The march to Gallia Cisalpina was brutal. I followed the Eastern coast of Italy, managing to capture a couple of cities on my way to Tegertes, finally arriving there after several months of bloody marching and fighting. I had split my slave army between Crixus and Spartacus - this strategy seemed to work reasonably well against the Romans, and made it easier to supply the troops. However, after reaching my destination I quickly noticed that the Northern winters are harsh, and I ran into some serious problems trying to keep everybody adequately supplied. The South is more populated and has much more loot to offer, and the weather is warm even in winter. I also noticed that I received much fewer reinforcements than I did in the South.
I was never able to evacuate everybody from Tegertes. The Romans spent some time wiping out the remaining rebels in the South and then concentrated most of their troops against my little slave kingdom of the North. I tried to send some light troops to raid and harass the Roman advance, but it didn't help much. Crixus died fighting valiantly with his men against a massive Roman army under Crassus, and then there was only Spartacus and his elite force of veteran gladiators left. They held out for a few month more, but constant supply difficulties and heavy Roman pressure finally led to Spartacus being captured and crucified, which effectively ended the rebellion. I suffered a minor defeat in points. I did manage to evacuate plenty of slaves from Tegertes, but obviously it wasn't enough, with Spartacus losing his life.
It was fun and dramatic (would have made a great AAR!), but I don't know what I could have done differently to win in the North. There just doesn't seem to be enough supplies or reinforcements available, and there were still many turns left when I lost my final army.
Any thoughts from our veteran gladiators here?
