A Light in the Darkness - Bosporan Kingdom

[Lord Blekinge]

A nice read, my first game of Rome was with the Bosporan kingdom. I would have continued with it but my laptop was stolen. I always had trouble getting enough provinces with Iron, you seem to be doing well.

On a side noter, are you in Korea, or going to go to Korea?

 

[Brandenburg III]

Enewald: At least in EU3 they get cleaned up, unless you’re playing MM or something like that.

Rabid: I’m not worried about the long border. I have plenty of horses in case of emergency.

Lord Blekinge: Some of my troops have to walk a little way to get to the front lines but it isn’t too bad, especially since I’m able to pick my wars and prepare for them. As for Korea, I lived there for a while when I was younger. I’ve always thought of going back but haven’t had the time recently or the cash.

***

Since Pontus could only get through me and I didn’t want them to resurrect their power, I removed their military access in May 520. Pontus would still find a way to eliminate the barbarian and rebel threats. At least I tried.

The following three years were pretty silent. There was a barbarian absorption in Samartia (+3 left), I created a colony in Alans (horses) and in 523 the rest of the barbarians in Samartia were absorbed. I’ve declared my love and intent to marry the governor of that region.

September 524 I declared war on Gatae. Bosporus Kingdom* v. Dalmatae* and Gatae.

Action was pretty slow with little happening until January when I lost Scordisci. Not a big deal because I’m a lot bigger than they were. What concerned me most was Macedonia’s DoW on Dalmatae... Pontus went along for the ride.

At least I was able to occupy and annex Gatae outright in late May 525. But the Dalmatae steamroller continued along the unpaved road, taking Autariate, Apuli while my first siege fell in late August, Agriannes.

Come October the Macedonians had had enough of the war and peaced out. This also ended Pontus’ drive for the war.

March 526 I lost Daci but I was able to sack their capital in October of that year. I was content to let their units run on my territory because I am bigger than them and in the race of sieges, even if I’m slower, I will win.

In May 527 the barbarians were absorbed in Alans, ending their status as a colony.

And by late July 527 I had occupied the rest of Dalmatae’s provinces, bringing peace down on them. They ceded Maezani, Agrianes and Liburni; renounced two cores; paying .291 in tribute. This peace also sealed off the expansion of the Balkan states.

February of 528 the Seleucids DoW’d Pontus. Again I wasn’t asked to join and Macedonia declined to help their ally. I suspected the Seleucids to run over Pontus without problem.

18 June 429 my leader died replaced by Fin 2 Char 6 Mar 9

The Pontus/Sel war ended in June of 529 with the Seleucids taking three provinces and immediately placing a guarantee on Pontus, which was too bad because I was planning for a war.

 

[Enewald]

Ha, so evil from Seleucids.

 

[Qorten]

Once you've done some more Getae-pouning and had some more cores pop you should be able to wear them out in war of attrition. Given you have some decent generals of course. The AI can't handle attrition all too well. Not to mention that you can block them at the Bosporus so they have only one way to attack. You should make sure your fleet is bigger then theirs though.

 

[JDMS]

Once you've done some more Getae-pouning and had some more cores pop you should be able to wear them out in war of attrition. Given you have some decent generals of course. The AI can't handle attrition all too well. Not to mention that you can block them at the Bosporus so they have only one way to attack. You should make sure your fleet is bigger then theirs though.

This, definitely.

 

[Lord Blekinge]

Kuluk the 1st?...what culture is he?, Scythian?

 

[Brandenburg III]

Enewald: They do what they do.

Qorten: Gatae and Dalmatae were exactly the same colors for some reason. Gatae is now annexed and Dal is just two provinces big.

JDMS:

Gatae and Dalmatae were exactly the same colors for some reason. Gatae is now annexed and Dal is just two provinces big.

This.

Lord Blekinge: Actually he’s Samatian. Greek religion and born in Olbia.

***

Hm, I seem to be missing about four years of my notes. But stuff happened. I took a province away from Boii, went to war against Suebi (annexing them) and had to war against Eburones because they wouldn’t accept peace (they’d end up paying tribute.) And while my army was over there, I also went to war against Bellovaci, an OPM. Originally I was going to annex them because they were tiny but had a large population base (and would be a great spot for launching into Britain) but Rome declared war on Eburones while I was at war with Bell. Needless to say I didn’t need to border Rome and took tribute from the small tribe.

Anyway, in early August 534 the Seleucids DoW’d Pontus and I was finally able to help. Two months later Macedonia would also declare war on Pontus. They’re turning out to be scavengers.

15 January 535 a civil war broke out in the Seleucid Empire but it wasn’t near big enough for me to consider war. As more and more time goes by, I'm thinking about war less and less.

In March of that year Navari ceased to be a colony after the barbarians were absorbed and by the following month I had finally brought the province of Suci down, resulting in Pontus’ complete occupation by the Seleucids, Macedonians and myself. I made peace the same day, taking Suci.

Three days later Macedonia took Epirius from Pontus. For some reason the Seleucids waited months later to strip the best parts of Pontus, leaving the country in two separated provinces on either side of the strait.

January 536 I began construction on a 5k army for Crimean barbarian control. The year progressed mostly silently until I was able to DoW Dalmatae in early November. Macedonia followed suit, aiding me later in my assaults of city walls. By July 537 I had annexed Dalmatae.

539 I added 8 new units to my 1st army bordering Macedonia (also led by my leader) and began construction of a colony in Costoboci (salt.)

I was content with the quiet years while I continued building up my army to where it needed to be. 540 I added another 10 heavy infantry units (since I have the national idea for it, why not use it) and the following year added another 10 units, split equally between the 1st and 3rd armies. Again, they were both bordering Macedonia.

543 I was finally able to begin building stockades, which I placed near the Macedonian border. This is the next likely war when I feel I’m ready.

544 I added another 12 units to my armies while my leader decided to die in April leaving me with his very inept son. Fin 3 Mar 6 Char 6.

But the new leader would bring a pair of decent events along with him. Here’s hoping that keeps up.

 

[Enewald]

The heirs of Alexander are too big...

 

[aldriq]

Ah, so this is where you were hiding I haven't had the time to even install Rome yet, I'll get around to do it one of these days. What does the Epigoni mod add to the game?

Good job you allied the Seleucids, they look scary big... now you can go for mainland Greece undisturbed.

 

[Brandenburg III]

Enewald: I’m glad they’re on my side. They still outnumber me at least 3:1.

aldriq: Yeah, I took a few months off from the forum. Life got a little busy and I’ve been lazily updating. I hang around Victoria a little more and recently completed the Egyptian AAR in my sig. I was going to announce this at the bottom of my post today but I’m going to write a final Vic 1 AAR about Japan from 1914 - 1936. I’ve been thinking about converting it to HOI2 but I’m not sure yet. It'll either start later today or tomorrow.

I’m not sure of everything Epigoni adds. I know there’s more nations to play as and I’m not sure what else. For me I feel Rome is unplayable without the mod. I’ve even tried Imperium and while that’s better than Rome vanilla, when it was active, it wasn’t enough for me. There’s just something about Epigoni that keeps me coming back whenever I feel like playing the era. I can't say for certain what changes it brings because I never played much of Rome vanilla.

***

This isn’t my usual ten year update. A lot has happened so I cut it down to five. I also have a “world” map at the bottom to keep you updated.

10 March 545 I was equal with Macedonia with the amount of units on our border (roughly between 45 - 50) so I decided to add another 10k to the line, tilting the balance in my favor.

546 I decided to take out Pontus, declaring war on 1 January.

After a four day assault Dardania fell. Near the Pontus capital my small token force in the east of 6 units lined up across from the Pontus capital while Pontus’ entire army of 14,000 moved deeper into Seleucid territory hoping to go after my force in Dardania. However, that dream ended when I brought the Seleucids into the war on 18 April. While my token force sieged the capital, the Seleucids tore into the Pontus army.

6 August the Pontus capital fell and I annexed them, taking both provinces. They both had grain. The bane of EU3 but the product holds a special place in my heart for border provinces in Rome.

A few prisoners came as a result and I was feeling decent so I released the first and third one on the list. The second one had the unfortunate fortune to be rich so I executed him for his “crimes” and took about 15 gold off him.

Afterwards I went to war against Taurisci, a province bordering a lone Macedonian holding and Rome. By 5 May 547 they were annexed.

21 July I canceled tribute from Atmoni but it was a month too soon as a large barbarian group popped up and decided to invade. They were taken out easily by late November but it pushed back my plans a little. But this was also a good thing for the barbarian rise reduced the civilization value of Atmoni so I wouldn’t receive a -2 stab hit when declaring war. What timing!

I’d receive 1.80 slaves and 28.56 gold from the barbarians.

3 December, about six months after I intended to, I finally declared war.

9 May I sacked the capital, two days later taking down the brand new colony they had just begun constructing a few months before the war. By 1 July the country was completely occupied. They ceded two of their three provinces - both of which had the resource, game - and began paying tribute again.

In other news, 20 June 549, all provinces bordering Macedonia were built up to level 2 status.

But barbarians would continue to plague me.

They’d take out two of my provinces before disappearing into Seleucid territory and being destroyed.

At the start of 550 I began constructing a small force of 9000 to protect my new possessions in Samatia from barbarians. I’m going to have to add a few more troops to my 6k token force in the east as well.

As of January 550, here’s a world map.

 

[Enewald]

The only good barbarian is a sold barbarian.

 

[Qorten]

That's what I call: A very blobby map.

How many of your provinces are cores?

 

[Rabid]

You're almost at the stage where any war that happens is going to be a big one. Best of luck!

 

[aldriq]

The big powers are consolidating pretty quickly - I guess Macedonia will be relatively easy to handle with Seleucid help, while Rome is hopefully best stricken when busy with Carthage...

 

[Qorten]

The big powers are consolidating pretty quickly - I guess Macedonia will be relatively easy to handle with Seleucid help, while Rome is hopefully best stricken when busy with Carthage...

Yes, but it would be much better to do the Macedonians without Seleucid help. They are way too large already.

 

[Brandenburg III]

Enewald: I do like the barbarians except when a large group pops up out of nowhere and destroys a city or two. I do wonder where the slaves go...

Qorten: Oops. I even wrote down to look it up and completely forgot about it. I’ll check up the next time I load up the game.

Rabid: Its getting big. The worst part is, much of my cities are former colonies and are sparsely populated, making my size insignificant when compared to the other large countries.

aldriq: I’m still having some manpower issues. I spend them when I get them. Don’t let my size fool you. While I can field up to about 100 units, I think, it pales in comparison to my neighbors. Even Macedonia has a large amount. I recall, on a scouting mission seeing about 80 units. Scary when considering they have such a small area to protect and mine are spread across such a large expanse. Reminds me of my Russian game in Viki while fighting Germany, Austria and the OE.

***

Day 1 the Ptolemaic Empire declared war on Macedonia. Day 2 the Seleucids honored their alliance and also went to war against Macedonia. Later in day 2, I raised my military maintenance, declaring war 26 days later.

A little later I’d find out where those the Macedonians had gone. Like, in March. There would be about 50 Macedonian units in North Africa.

6 April I occupied Maedi with Seleucid help. A month later, I eliminated - I assumed correctly - the last Macedonian army in Europe consisting of 22,000 men. Well, it had 22,000 at one time.

The rest of the year, without a European Macedonian army, was pretty quiet. Apuli converted to Greek, I occupied Histri and read a decent article in Foreign Policy.

551 continued as 550 but without any battles at all. I took Epirius, Paeoria, Scodra, Aetolia and another province. As of January 552, the map was becoming quite colorful. I was offering 99% warscore peace treaties which were being rejected but I was fine with the rejections because the more territory I occupied, the less the Seleucids could take.

In late February the Seleucids and Macedonia agreed to a landless peace with the Macedonians paying tribute of .548. The Macedonians still rejected my 99% warscore peace treaties so I continued and took Achea, Thessaly and another province. I waited for peace this time because they decided to land 12,000 men in Greece, which I wanted to eliminate. On 5 October I did and on October 6 they accepted peace. They’d pay 50 and cede:

Histri - wood
Scodra - horse
Maedi - iron
Paeonia - iron
Taulanti - wine

With the cash and my savings, I bumped my stability back up to +1. Who knew animal slaughter could bring a nation together? Michael Vick was just a few thousand years too late.

27 April 553 I wrote I no longer feared Rome and decided to plan for Roman Border expansion and began construction of an additional 13 ships for my navy in the Black Sea. I’m getting to that point where I’m going to need a navy. These ships aren’t going to see action until I’m confident they can put up a fight. Until then, they’re on pirate duty.

11 February 554 I canceled tribute to Eubones, declaring war the following month. It’d take till the end of the year for that capital to fall but in the meantime I was placated with a colony in Breuci - iron.

And then, while wandering to Eubones’ other province, I saw this, wondering how these provinces are connected. If I would’ve known this, I would’ve taken them in my earlier war in spite of Rome’s aggressiveness. Ah, global warming. When we were once able to ford the English Channel.

April Macedonia allied with the Seleucids which didn't bode well for me. Now the Seleucids are allied with all their nearby neighbors except Rhodes and Crete. But I put the thoughts away while Eubones fell in June. After the annexation, I declared war on Chatti on 28 June of the same year. Chatti splintered off of Eubones just before my declaration of war.

They’d be annexed in February 556 and were my new stomping ground for building a fleet in Northern France. 10 ships were planned for transportation and eventual annexation of a Scottish tribe.

Four months later the Seleucids declared war. During this war I didn’t even taken notes. I knew it wouldn’t be worth it so let’s fastforward to the end... in August. I lost an army of 8,000 and my armies needed refilling of 30,000 men. I'd fear Rome again. In addition I ceded Pontus, Iberia and gave up 230 gold. I made about 10 a month, after the peace it fell to almost 8.

Around November I decided to build up strong fortifications near the Seleucids but this would take a while. To ease my pain I declared war on my once tribute-payer, Bellivaci. They too would be annexed, in time, just after my colony in Cotoni - iron.

Late January 588 my leader died in a dispute with his rival, paving the way for yet another man filled with ineptness. Fin 2 Mar 5 Char 4. I don’t get it. Am I not praying to Johan enough?

Then in June a barbarian uprising of 31 sacked Atrebates, where my ships were under construction. Only two had completed construction but I’d get my retribution. Here’s some slavery. Eat it.

I rounded out the ten year session getting my stability up to 0 and colonizing Lugii - grain. I have to refill 20,000 troops in my armies but rebels and barbarians are a constant, eliminating any reserves I’m trying to save up to build additional armies.

 

[Lofman]

Interesting expansion. And those Seleucids are looking very strong.

 

[Enewald]

Start dismantling the Seleucid Empire with any means necessary. Send your family there to spark revolts...

 

[Qorten]

Though times! Good luck surviving the next Seleucid+Macedonian attacks.

 

[aldriq]

Well, you didn't leave the Seleucids any other option for expansion, but losing Pontus and Iberia was probably preferable to let the big yellow blob to acquire richer provinces in Greece.