Advanced Hellenistic Era NES

[Micha]

Bosporian Greek to Persia
Trade? Yes, of course! We can offer grain, fish and furs, maybe even amber in exchange for spices, incense, gems and Persian rugs. By trading with you, we could avoid the Pirates in the Aegian Sea... When will your first ships arrive?

[bipolarbear]

Persia to Bosporian Greek
They are already shipping off

Persia to Lydia
It has come to our attention that there is a great deal of hatred between our two countries. We would liek to propose a peace treaty, before anything too nasty pops up.

Persia to Carthage
Yes, we demand to retain the rights to over 50% of Egypt, providing that we are successful.

[Micha]

Lydia to Persia
Sure. Peace in exchange for Phrygia and Pisidia.

Carthage to Persia
Sounds acceptable. What kind of division would you like? The Nile as the border?

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Persia (SECRET) :

Concerning the Moesians, we have a better idea, we'll tell you later.


Macedonia to Crete :

You will cease your pirate activities immediately, and you will pay 5 talents to Athens and 3 talents to Lydia for the damage you have caused, or you will face war.

[Micha]

Crete to Macedonia
We offer peace in exchange for the recognition of all conquered territories. We are free sailors, and our ships are equipped with... well, come and watch it for yourself
No tributes and peace at current borders.

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Crete :

Prepare to be destroyed.


Macedonia to Lydia and Persia :

We ask that you put aside your differences to fight a common enemy that is actually harming us--Crete and her piracy.


to Moesian tribes :

That's a pretty nasty feud you've got going on. Here's a suggestion: We will transport one of your peoples to the soon-to-be-conquered land of Crete, a rich island where you will be able to enjoy the plunder, as well as a strategic position offering you further chances for making wealth. Thus one of you gets the protection of Macedonia, and both of you get new lands and to be rid of the other.

[laurentius]

erhm...Morgan Freeman?

[icarii]

bipolar says that all the time.

M.G. to Rome:
mutual protection. How many do you need?

[bipolarbear]

Lydia to Persia
Sure. Peace in exchange for Phrygia and Pisidia.

Sure, just let us take over your country first.

Carthage to Persia
Sounds acceptable. What kind of division would you like? The Nile as the border?

No. That is grossly unacceptable. How about the "y" in egypt?

Macedonia to Lydia and Persia :

We ask that you put aside your differences to fight a common enemy that is actually harming us--Crete and her piracy.

For the time being yes.

erhm...Morgan Freeman?

Icreated the Morgan Freeman Alliance in the "mrmitchell's tough times NES" It was the greatest alliance ever! It was was even better than the soviet nazi allaince in WW2!!!

[Micha]

Update started

[Micha]

UPDATE - 320 to 315 b.c.

Middle East
Egypt
Facing a long war against the Persians, and now even against the Carthagians, the pharao is in bad need of new funds. So he decided to sell the Northern Egyptian island of Pharos with it´s mainland area for 8 talents to anyone interested.
During the past five years, the Persians have regrouped and launched a counter-offensive into the heart of Egypt.
The air was filled with the buzzing sound of the blades attached to the Persian war chariots´ wheels as they charged into the Egyptian infantry.
Survivors say it´s been a bloodbath of epic scale, as the chariots went through the endless rows of Egyptians like a hot knife goes through butter. Thousands met their fate during the few hours of the Battle of Raphia; Nine thousand horsemen used the breach to attack the Pharao´s troops from the inside, which killed the Egyptian morale as well as the core of their army.
It seems as if the Nile warriors took a defeat they won´t recover from...
In their retreat, they abandoned Tanys and almost the whole Nile delta. The entire siege weaponry has been left behind and thus captured by the advancing Persians. Citizens are now recruited as militia to build up a last wall of defense.

Persia
The victory of Raphia was a boost to the Persian morale. If the Egyptian lands can be reconquered, that might restore the great king´s reputation amongst his people.
The small investments into education and centralization show almost no effect. Wise men say an empire of this size needs much more funds to restructure its organization or to really improve the education of the lower classes.
Meanwhile, fivehundred men have been recruited to serve as a secret police and quell dissent. However, they cannot cover the whole empire in these low numbers, so they are only effective as the eyes and ears of the great king.
So they report that Mesopotamia is quite peaceful, while Phoenicia and Palaestina show some tendency to brake lose. With the Persian army garrisoned there, they won´t revolt openly, though.
The Asia Minor provinces fear a Lydian attack, the citizens there think they couldn´t face an invasion with the current defences. Fortunately don´t the Lydians know about that.
Some military leaders now receive a better training, while the state pumps a fair amount of money into social welfare. So far the effects are not that overwhelming, but it´s a start.

Tributes paid by Asia Minor add up to 6 talents, Assyria sends 1,000 swordsmen, Babylon adds 450 war chariots, Phoenicia contributes 14 new triremes. Another 1,500 horsemen were recruited from the Armenian tribes for free.

Greece and Asia Minor
Macedonia
Completely unexpected by the people involved, the Attic Federation has been reintegrated into the Kingdom of Macedonia! The actual reasons behind this drastic event were unknown, but suddenly the Macedonian flag was waving above the Akropolis.
Being unconcerned about the outside world, the citizens of Athens don´t care much. They were enjoying several public feasts and then continued their philosophical debates. Around the whole city, also including suburbs and farms, the giant wall was still being improved. Now the seven city gates have been fortified, while each of the watchtowers now is equipped with a deadly ballista weapon.
From those towers the guards had a great view on the new roads, broad enough for four chariots side by side.

In Macedonia, the annexiation was welcomed by the whole population, for it meant a further accomplishment in the traces of Alexander and Phillip.
In addition to the large sums being invested into peasant aid programs, the recent political victory was proving the king´s way to be the right. The Macedons admire their leader, some are even worshipping him in private shrines at home.
Many think that he was planning for something great to happen soon, since he still insists in not touching the giant gold veine sleeping deep beneath the city of Amphipolis.

Meanwhile, the army of Alexander has returned home, now securing the Thracian province against barbarian raids. Due to the lack of training and experience, the military efficiency has dropped by another 4%.
The fleet, however, was now equipped with specially trained naval combat troops. About 700 lightly armed soldiers are now sailing with the battlefleet, hoping to capture enemy ships.

A first naval combat occured off the Island of Lemnos, where thirteen Macedonian triremes on escort duty have been engaged by twelve Cretean warships.
Firing burning arrows at the Macedons, the Creteans managed to sink 4 enemy triremes from the distance. Then the real battle began:
Both using proved tactics from the first Persian wars, no side could really get an advantage. While the Macedons tried to enter their foe´s ships, the Creteans used their rams.
After five hours, not a single ship was left with intact oars, rendering all 21 warships unable to move; Three Cretean ships have been captured, though with heavy losses.
Fortunately a second Macedon convoy arrived, surrounding the scenery. Being encircled and unable to use the main weapon, the Cretean crews finally surrendered.
The Macedonian fleet has lost 4 ships, another nine heavily damaged and twelve enemy triremes captured in bad shape.
At Olynthos, the next friendly shipyard, the workers would be able to repair the damaged ships for 5 talents.

Lydia
Unable to fight the Pirate menace alone, Lydia has lent it´s 32 triremes to Macedonia. During the transfer, seven of these ships were sunk by Cretean raiders. Only one attacker could be sunk by the Lydian convoy.
The war with Persia is inevitable, but still a cold one. It appears as if the Lydians don´t feel strong enough to attack without allies, while the Persians don´t seem to be interested in taking back what is theirs. However, a century-old anti-Persian sentinent within the population makes peace impossible. One cannot say when war would erupt, but it won´t be too long till then.

Aegian Sea
Facing a first defeat in naval battle, the Creteans have bought the services of the Phoenician battlefleet. About 130 Phoenician ships have left Tyros and joined the sailors of Cnossos.
This is nothing unusual, as the fleet is unused by the Persians and the services being paid quite good.
The tyrant of Crete has sent an envoy to Pella, proposing peace at the current borders.
To back his proposal, he has ordered to attach 40 foot soldiers to each trireme, equipped with short bows, burning arrows and grapnels.

Black Sea
None of the promised troops from Macedonia have arrived yet, so the locals feel tricked, again. Scythian raids into greek farmlands are as common as the tides, and some Bosporian settlements even pay tributes to the Scythes in exchange for peace.
If the grain exports weren´t the only source of income for most of the colonies along the Black Sea´s coast, they would cease to supply their southern relatives.
The pact has been cancelled, and realtions to Persia are becoming better and better.

Italian peninsula
The nightly landing of 2,000 Roman swordsmen near the greek city of Neapolis, which was invaded by Samnite hordes, completely took the latter by surprise. The sleeping army was no match for the powerful Roman charge, although the Samnites tried to put up a fight instead of surrendering immediately.
The camp was completely obliterated, several week´s supplies have been captured.
On the dark side, the heavily armoured swordsmen, lacking both naval training and a port, had to swim to the beach. Several dozens of brave soldiers drowned in the dark waters of the Neapolitanian Bay.

With this "covert operation" the second Samnite war started.
Two Roman legions crossed the border, ordered to crush whatever resistance they find, while a third one secretely marched along the Adriatic coast in order to catch the enemy from the rear.
Especially at that coast, the Samnite resistance was stronger than expected. The towns of Sipontum and Argyrippa deployed militias and engaged the Legion II Italica. Though the 12,000 Romans managed to defeat the townsmen easily, it had serious impact on their schedule; More than five days were lost, but the entire coastal area of Samnium was brought under Roman control. At Cannae the Legion and the Magna Graecian garrison met, but due to a lack of orders that force didn´t join the Latin attack.

Legion III and IV have meanwhile entered Neapolis, which, abandoned by the Samnites, has placed itself under Roman rule. The harbour was still intact, which might help the trade in the young republic.
Further advancing southeast, those two legions finally encountered the gross of the Samnite army at Caudine Forks. There, the Romans found themselves trapped between two mountain passes, guarded by the Samnite army. Though there was no hope to win a battle in this situation, the two legions didn´t surrender. Instead, they set up a camp, resting and waiting for what was to come. Convinced of their victory, the Samnites didn´t attack. They relied on starving the trapped Romans. This was a terrible mistake, as they had to realize when the second Legion suddenly appeared in their rear.
With five days delay, their arrival was close to what would have been too late. Just-in-time, as Scipio would later say.
Many Samnites were drunk from the victory celebrations, most didn´t even wear their armours. All of them were caught off guard.
This all was more than equalling out their superiority in numbers.
The battle at Caudine Forks was hardly a fierce fight, more like a hunt. Especially after a part of the Legion had managed to capture the 3,000 horses of the Samnites, thus turning their cavalry into foot soldiers. During two days of battle, some 14,000 Samnites were killed, while Roman casualties were slightly more than 5,000.
It might have been a victory for Rome, but it could as well have become its worst defeat. Some called it luck, others destiny. However, it remained a silent victory for the two legions that had to be liberated from their trap...

The constant state of war and the sheer endless opportunities to test and practise new military tactics have increased the Roman war efficiency by 5%, while sacking countless Samnian towns and villages made up for 21 talents added to the treasury.

Corse, the small island off the Northern Italian coast, was now under total control by the Romans. A new shrine of Neptunus, god of the blue waters, is now adorning the town of Alalia, reminding the Romans of the cruel but also adorable power of the Sea.
The abundant iron ore deposits of Corse turned out to be a huge boost to the Roman war industry, reducing the actual cost of swordsmen by 2 talents per 1,000 men. Also a silver mine has been found, contributing a fair amount to the Republic´s coffers.

Meanwhile a week-long festival was being held in the capital, with chariot races making the civilians watch in awe the power of the Republic. Especially since the chariots were making their way through the streets of Rome, lacking a hippodrome or colosseum...

Western Mediterranean
After the completion of the large harbour of Carthago Nova, the trade in the region was rising steadily, leading to prosperity and wealth.
While the work on the "Guardian of the West" wonder was going on, a Carthagian army was disembarked near the city of Cyrene.
The declaration of war had been issued with the first wave of arrows hailing upon the unexpecting defenders.
During the assault that followed, the city was set on fire; Whether it was ignited by Carthagians or Cyrenaicans cannot be said, however almost half of the city burned down, killing hundreds and annihilating a dozen talents of spoils of war.
When the defenders surrendered, they were brought to Carthage, where most of them were sold into slavery. Several hundreds have been bought by Roman patricians, too, which can be seen as a sign of both close cooperation and growing wealth in Rome.
The revenues of the slave trade, as well as the remainders of the treasury have allowed for a first group of war elephants to be bought, trained and equipped. Within the next year, they will begin their duty in the Carthagian Army, charging into the lines of their enemies. Who hasn´t seen the attack of war elephants can´t imagine the fear and horror they inflict on their pity opponents...

NPC orders / Events
- "Legion II Italica" lost 2,236 swordsmen; 558 horsemen; 1,924 foot soldiers
- "Legion III Latina" lost 82 swordsmen; 190 horsemen; 353 foot soldiers
- "Legion IV Augusta" lost 34 swordsmen; 211 horsemen; 645 foot soldiers
- "Samnite Army" lost 3,392 horsemen; 4,478 foot soldiers; 6,245 light infantry and retreated south
- "Macedonian Fleet" lost 13 triremes
- "Naval force" lost 54 light infantrists
- "Cretean Fleet" lost 12 triremes
- "Pharao´s Army" lost 341 war chariots; 558 horsemen; 16,705 foot soldiers
- "Army of Egypt" lost 835 war chariots; 3,554 horsemen; 420 swordsmen; 898 foot soldiers
- Carthage invested 40 talents into the "Guardian of the West" wonder
- Carthage has trained 100 war elephants (25 talents) and created the "Heavy Assault Brigade"
- Sparta trained 3,000 hoplites (27 talents) and added them to "Spartan Elites"
- Lydia trained 3,000 hoplites (36 talents) and added them to "Southern Army"
- Due to lack of orders, Magna Graecia has again banked it´s entire income
- Egypt has trained 9,000 light infantrists (45 talents) and added them to "Pharao´s army"
- Bosporian Greek payed 7 talents in tribute to the Scythian nomads; they also trained 1,000 foot soldiers (8 talents) and added them to "Crimean defence force"
- Crete has spent its entire treasury on Phoenician mercanaries
- new pirate navy formed: "Eastern Mediterranean Sea Pirates" consisting of 38 triremes south of Massilia

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Athenikia :

Granted.

[Micha]

Map updated

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Crete :

If you wish for peace, you must pay reparations of 11 talents, which is equal to the damage you have caused. We will not ask you again.


Macedonia to Bosporus :

So impatient. We have our own issues to deal with, and we did not realize your need for protection was so urgent. But, if you are willing to uphold our alliance, we will have a number of troops march to garrison your lands this very summer.


To the city of Odessa :

You should join the alliance between us and the Bosporans, it would increase you security and the amount of trade flowing through your city.

[bipolarbear]

Persia to Egypt
We would be interested in buyng your lands.