Parthian expansion AAR- Severus returns to Parthia

[Ebbingford]

Hi folks, this is a sneak preview of one of the scenarios of the upcoming Parthian expansion for AJE.
I am playing as Rome versus the AI in the Severus returns to Parthia scenario. In this scenario Severus has gone east to finish off his rivals in the Civil War, Parthia takes it's chance to attack.

At the start of this scenario my forces are widely dispersed through out the region. My first objective is therefore to concentrate my forces in two locations, I choose Antiochia and Hierosolyma. The units that are not fixed for a few turns are ordered to proceed to these two regions.

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All my units are also very low in cohesion as well as being severely understrength. This is what the F2 replacements page of the ledger is looking like

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I have very little money at the start of this scenario so I shall play all the merchant regional decisions that I can. I spend all of my money bar 40 on infantry replacements. I have left 40 denarii in reserve as I need to have some left to cover the monthly upkeep costs of my forces. I will know next turn how much this is going to be.
I hope I can get my forces concentrated and up to strength before the Parthian onslaught.......

[Ebbingford]

Turn 2 is still a case of bringing my legions up to strength and concentrating them in readiness for the Parthians. I can only afford to buy two infantry replacement chits this turn, I need lots more though. Next turn it will be March though so all my money worries should be over by then.
I have had a new two star general arrive so he sent to Hierosolyma to take charge of the forces building up there.
The first Parthian forces have been spotted laying siege to Nisibis and advancing through the neighbouring region, my intelligence reports suggest it is a highly mobile force, lots of cavalry and horse archers. Hopefully my border forts and towns will slow down their advance so giving me time to build up my forces, I am especially short in cavalry at the moment.

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[Ebbingford]

This turn has seen the city income arrive in my coffers. The first thing I do with it is order the recruitment of all the cavalry, archers and auxilliary units that I can. A lot more replacements are also ordered for all troop types.

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My Osroene allies have been pushed back by the advancing Parthian hoards from their capital Edessa which is now under siege along with Nisibis. I don't think Edessa is going to hold out for long at all.

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Good news from Rome though, hopefully reinforcements will follow.

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The turn is spent again trying to bring my forces up to strength. I now have 3 legions with supports dug in outside both Antiochia and Hierosolyma. Two more legions are on their way to Antiochia while there is another in Alexandria that unlocks in 3 turns time. My only concern at the moment is that only one of these legions was raised in Italy, the others are all from Oriens and Macedonia and their discipline is not quite as good.

[arsan]

Thanks for the AAR!
I bet Parthians are not so good at sieges Hopefully your walls and forts will keep them occupied while Severus bring reinforcements!
Regards

[Ebbingford]

My main force at Antiochia is now at full strength and entrenched to level 4. I feel quite confident that if attacked they will hold their own.

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Edessa and Nisibis meanwhile continue to hold out. Every turn that they resist is a bonus at the moment.
Still no sign of any reinforcements now that the Civil War is over though.

[Ebbingford]

Thanks for the AAR!
I bet Parthians are not so good at sieges Hopefully your walls and forts will keep them occupied while Severus bring reinforcements!
Regards

Hunger will always do the job if you wait long enough though.

[PJJ]

These always make for some good reading before the release of the game, so keep it up!

However, I noticed a typo in one of the units: Legio XV is spelled "Appolinaris", when it should be "Apollinaris" (meaning devoted to Apollo).

[bob.]

Very interesting so far! I always like it when the Romans have some allies, makes their unit roster a bit more diverse! Also, now I have to google for "Osroene", so afterwards I will know more about history than before

[Ebbingford]

Edessa has fallen, but Nisibis continues to hold out. I think I see an opening to go on the offensive though.

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My main Roman force in Antiochia will be sent to combine with my Osroene allies in Samosata. I will then be ready to strike back at Edessa or go to relieve Apamea or Nisibis depending on what the Parthians do. Hopefully I will be able to strike out at their smaller formations while avoiding the larger ones.

I order a couple of Vexillatio units in Antiochia to boost my defences there, I should have maybe ordered these earlier but they might come in handy later on in the campaign.

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[bob.]

What are the subfactions of the Parthians? I notice there is a green general and a purple general.

[Ebbingford]

The greens are Parthians. The purple stack is commanded by Narsai of Adiabene.

[arsan]

The greens are Parthians. The purple stack is commanded by Narsai of Adiabene.

Nothing like AGEOD games to learn about geography and history!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiabene

[Ebbingford]

The garrison of Nisibis has surrendered. They did manage to hold up the Parthian advance for several turns which was a bonus though.
This turn has also seen the first clash involving Roman legions and a Parthian force. I managed to get my main force united with my Osroene allies in Samosata just in time by the looks of things.

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As both Edessa and Nisibis have fallen I shall send this force off to try and lift the siege of Melitene. The Parthian force there isn't too large at the moment. I am hoping my repulse of the main Parthian force at Samosata will mean they don't try there again this turn. If they do, or if they head towards Zeugma I should be close enough to be able to get back there the turn after.

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The last Roman legion is unlocked this turn and can now be brought into play, it is ordered from Alexandria to join my southern force in Hierosolyma. This force still has no cavalry, so I shall leave them where they are until the new units I have built arrive. The auxilliaries should be there next turn, the cavalry the turn after. They are all coming from the off map box representing Nubae. Once they are all combined I shall see what I can do with them.

[Ebbingford]

The battle for Samosata that occurred last turn has me a tad on the worried side. On closer inspection of the battle report it appears that although the Parthians were outnumbered they still attacked across the river. They still managed to inflict quite a few casualties on my forces while not losing too many themselves, bearing in mind they were attacking across the river. I think I need to be quite wary about engaging them in open terrain, especially if it is a sizeable force.....

The siege of Melitene was successfully lifted this turn, I even managed to take some prisoners. They will be sold off as slaves as soon as I get enough to make it worthwhile.

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The news that I have been waiting for. Severus has returned with several veteran legions. He has arrived in Byzantium after an overland march from Rome.

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He will continue his march along the coast of the Pontus Euxinus (The Black Sea nowadays) to Trapezus. If all goes well my plan is to send him from there down through Armenia taking Artaxata which will hopefully knock the Armenians out of the war and then onto Phraaspa. He will then be in a position from which he will be able to thrust deep into the Parthian heartlands operating in the rear of the main Parthian armies.

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I will use my force that is presently in Melitene to try and preserve my position in front of Antiochia taking any opportunity to attack smaller Parthian stacks. For now this force is ordered back to Samosata as I think the Parthians will make another attempt to take it. I hope I get there before them...
My other force which is still building up in Hierosolyma will then be used for a southern thrust down the Euphrates towards Selucia and Babylon.

[Ebbingford]

The Parthians didn't attack Samosata that turn so my force there under Anullinus is ordered on to lift the siege of Apamea. If they can reach the region before any of the other Parthian stacks arrive I should be able to push the besieging Parthian stack out, even though I am attacking across a river. If other Parthian stacks arrive before I get there and I have to attack them across the river as well then it could get nasty. I'm backing my legions to get there first though.

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My southern force under Candidus is sent to try and lift the siege of Palmyra, it is still lacking a couple of cavalry units who have not joined it yet, but it should be Ok against the Parthian forces that are there at the moment.

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In the north Severus is poised to strike, his first goal is to lift the siege of Satala.

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I also start playing the "Subversion" regional decisions this turn. I play them in the objective regions that I have to go after which have no loyalty towards me, Hatra being the first region, followed by Artaxata and then the Parthian home regions of Ctesiphon, Selucia and Phraaspa. I will keep on playing these decisions in these regions from now until the end of the game. If I can get over 50% loyalty then it lifts the FoW as well as making it easier for me to garrison these regions.

[Ebbingford]

Severus advanced into Satala too late, the main Parthian force went onto Trapezus before he arrived. A minor skirmish saw the screening force that had been left behind to continue the siege driven off. Next turn he will have to go after the Parthian force that is now laying siege to Trapezus.

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In the centre the advance on Apamea went well and the Parthians retreated before us.
Down south it was the same story, the enemy force retreating as we advanced.
Both these forces are now ordered to continue onwards to try and regain control of the lost Roman cities.

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Tiridates, the brother of the Parthian king, has had to flee for his life. He has arrived in Antiochia with a small contingent of followers.

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[Ebbingford]

In the north the enemy again managed to evade our efforts to engage him. Winter is coming and the mountain regions here are going to get tricky to move through. The Parthians don't hold any of our cities in the north so they will have to retreat to get resupplied. I will let the weather and terrain do my attacking for the moment. Severus will return to Satala in case another attempt is made on it before winter comes.
At Edessa we managed to drive the enemy away while taking several hundred prisoners. These will now be sold into slavery. An assault is ordered on the city.

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In the south the force under Candidus arrived at Nicephorium in no condition to do anything. They are going to have to lay siege to the city and try to recover some of their cohesion. Until they do they are very vulnerable.

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With the proceeds from the sale of the slaves I will buy the remaining 4 Vexillatio units that can be built. These are ordered to be recruited in Antiochia.

[Ebbingford]

The force under Candidus at Nicephorium was attacked but managed to beat off their attackers. Again they are in no state to do anything, so the siege is maintained.

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In the centre Edessa was captured. The city is now defenseless as it has no city walls so the "Rebuild Walls" regional decision is played in the region. This will take 6 turns to complete though.
Meanwhile a large Parthian army is now at the gates of Apamea. I will leave them alone at the moment. I would rather hold Edessa.
In the north Severus is going to have to go after another Parthian stack that has marched all the way to Sebasti and is now laying siege to the town. If I can maintain my hold on the towns then lack of supply will make the Parthians retreat.

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[Ebbingford]

Again the northern Parthian stack has evaded me. They are now starting to run low on supplies though so Severus returns to Satala from where he can strike in any direction.
Candidus was attacked again at Nicephorium by a large Parthian force but managed to retreat to Apamea. He did manage to inflict a significant amount of damage to his attacker though. He is ordered to dig in and rest for the turn.

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[Ebbingford]

Candidus has now advanced to Zaitha after resting in Apamea for a turn, he is ordered to assault the city. The assault is not successful due to the presence of a Parthian field force, this is driven off in the process though and more prisoners are captured for the slave markets. The assault is ordered for the next turn.

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My force in Edessa has been hit by a nasty event, there are mutinies in some of my legions. This means that the afflicted stack loses 75% of it's cohesion. I hope they aren't attacked this turn......

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[Ebbingford]

They were attacked. A large Parthian stack took the chance to advance on Edessa. My troops managed to retire in good order before them though and are now entrenched at Samosata. The walls at Edessa were rebuilt just in time by the looks of things.
The assault on Zaitha was successful but the supply situation there for Candidus is poor. His stack returns to Palmyra to resupply.

The next turn Edessa is assaulted, we have lost it once again. There was nothing I could do to prevent it's fall, the Parthian horde that pushed my mutinous legions back was too big.

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Severus now goes to try and lift the sieges of Satala and Carana. He should be in a position then to resume his advance on Artaxata.

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[Franciscus]

Parthian AI is giving you a good run for your money, Ebbingford...

[Ebbingford]

Parthian AI is giving you a good run for your money, Ebbingford...

Yes

The AI seems to be maintaining one large stack all the time as well as several smaller stacks that keep raiding all over the place.
I haven't got enough troops. (Isn't that the first complaint of all commanders, you never hear of them saying I've got too many..... )

[Ebbingford]

That large Parthian stack pushes onto Melitene and fails in it's first assault attempt on the city. My central force under Anullinus is therefore ordered back to Edessa, I want to retake it before the main Parthian army gets back from Melitene. I want him to attack me, especially if I am entrenched.
Severus succeeded in driving the enemy away from Satala and Carana and now advances on Artaxata. The siege begins.

The main Parthian army is now retreating from Melitene, it looks low on supply so I will try and attack it as it looks weak at the moment. Anullinus with 5 legions will leave his entrenchments and try to intercept it.


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A breach has been made in the defences of Artaxata, Severus is put into assault posture in case we manage to get the second breach this turn. (Artaxata is a level 2 fortification.) I want to take it as soon as possible.
In the south Candidus makes a dash down the bank of the Euphrates to Babylon.

[Canon]

A breach has been made in the defences of Artaxata, Severus is put into assault posture in case we manage to get the second breach this turn. (Artaxata is a level 2 fortification.) I want to take it as soon as possible.

Does this work? I was under the impression that a check is made before the turn is executed for Assault Posture/Existing Breaches, and if they do not match, your army does not attack.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Does this work? I was under the impression that a check is made before the turn is executed for Assault Posture/Existing Breaches, and if they do not match, your army does not attack.

Siege is resolved before combat, so the proactive assault stance makes sense.

[PJJ]

Good stuff! I hope the Parthians will make your life even more challenging.

How hard it is to keep those large forces well supplied in that corner of the world?

[Ebbingford]

Supply for the Romans here isn't too bad, around the centre area Samosata, Edessa, Apamea etc. If you hold these 3 a 5 legion force is always in supply anywhere around them. Down south and in the north it is different. Large forces have to keep retreating to cities with adequate supply, especially if they have suffered losses in battle.

[Ebbingford]

We managed to make a second breach in the walls of Artexata. There then followed several bloody assaults before the city fell. I think the slave traders are going to be kept busy here for a while.

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Severus recruits a unit of militia to garrison Artexata and orders the depot there to be rebuilt. He then pushes on to Phraaspa.

The main Parthian army refused to be drawn into battle in the centre. There was a minor skirmish which only reinforced our intelligence on them, they are looking very weak now.

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We will push on hard after them and try to stop them from regrouping.
In the south we have started to lay siege to Babylon.

On the poitical front we take the decision to have Laetus assassinated.

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[Ebbingford]

Again we have failed to engage the main Parthian army. The pursuit is called off, we shall go after Nisibis instead. If we manage to take the city the Parthians will have to retreat further if they want to regroup and resupply.
We managed to make a breach in Babylon so an assault is ordered for this turn in readiness of another breach being made.
Severus has arrived in Phraaspa and begins to lay siege to it. We decide to use one of our "Siegeworks" regional decisions, hopefully it will speed up the siege. Severus doesn't want to get stuck outside the city for the whole winter.

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The besieged units in Babylon managed to repair the breach there. This could be along affair.....

Better news from Phraaspa, we managed to make another breach and take the city.
In the centre our forces under Anullinus reached Nisibis and inflicted severe losses on the Parthian forces, they are now laying siege to the city and the sizeable Parthian forces which are now bottled up there.

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