Alexander's World Tour

[Marathon]

With Macedonian and Greece secured, I shift my attention to the hated Persian Empire. My army is reequipped and replenished with re-enforcements including a small detachment of slingers. My father dreamed of conquering the Persians but I will accomplish it. I purchase three Health cards, one Poison card along with the leftover Rally card I already possess.

After making sacrifices to the gods at the remains of Troy, I move to meet Memnon of Rhodes and various Persian satraps, who sit behind the Granicus River.

[Marathon]

The Persians and their Greek lapdog, Memnon, cower behind the Granicus so I will have to root them out. My scouts have found a lightly defended ford further upstream that is lightly defended. I will lead my entire cavalry contingent across that ford to secure the first objective. Meanwhile, my phalanxes and missile units will defend the main crossing against any possible Persian counter-attack.

Calis' lancers are the first to cross the Granicus to outflank the arstibara guarding the ford. The rest of my cavalry will follow him.

Coenus: Alexander has put me in charge of the infantry contingent in front of the Persians. I am to wait until our cavalry obtains mastery of the Persian left before marching across the river.

[Erik Rutins]

Great AAR, Marathon. Keep up the good work. Good to see that you handled Thebes well. Those elite units will be a huge help for you at Granicus. [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

[Marathon]

Calis circles around Bapuji at the same time Bucephalus' legs splash water onto me. A steep bank lies on front of me. Behind me, the sound of thousands of hooves. Soon, those hooves will be crossing the same body of water and then they will be trampling the Persians into dust.

[Marathon]

The surprised Bapuji turns his light infantry to guard against Calis while I strike his flank. He loses 700 men and gets pushed off the bank and into the Granicus. I push my bodyguards forward to the top of the bank and leave his demise to the units following me. Calis reports that he has spied the first hint of enemy cavalry to the front.

Coenus: A spear wall is formed. Kallis and Acacius ready their missile weapons. The Persians will not pass.

[Marathon]

I turn and watch as Bapuji shaken troops are charged by Demetrius while hopelessly trying to reform. The dead clog the shallow ford and the surviving arstibara attempt to flee further upstream. The crossing has been cleared. Knowing that I can trust Demetrius to finish the job, I urge the rest of my cavalry to rise out of the Granicus towards the first objective. Another message from Calis; the enemy, to my front, remains immobile.

[Marathon]

The limited space, I am forced to deal with, leave me no option for complicated maneuvers. To clear the growing number of enemy to my front, a simple brute force headfirst charge is the plan of action. Macedonia lances versus Persian horse flesh. Calis, the leading element, pushes back Vindafarnah's cavalry without incurring and casualties. Praise to the gods! A courier arrives from Demetrius' command with good news; Bapuji has surrendered almost 1000 men and will make all haste to join me with his unit intact.

My Companion cavalry captures the first objective. A second one appears close to Coenus' position across the larger crossing but in the heart of the Persian army.

[Marathon]

Nothing to see here.

[Marathon]

I notice that some of the enemy cavalry cowers on some rocky hills but they should be a problem if my commanders use cunning. The desperate Persian commanders are probably expecting re-enforcements but my movements are screened by the woods to my left. My lancers drive straight into the Persians. Calis pushes back Xshathrita with slight losses while Arrabaeus does the same to Abadan with none killed. Vindafarnah dares to charge me? My bodyguard is bloodied and shaken, but in their thirst for vengeance, Vindafarnah's unit is eliminated at the cost of half my Companion bodyguard's strength.

[Marathon]

Me eyes scan to the north as the main body of the enemy comes into view. Memnon's heavily armored infantry gleams in the sun like a beacon. As expected, the second objective is in center of their lines covering the central ford.

I watch as Calis follows up his sucessfully initial charge against Xshathrita driving the enemy cavalry further backwards. Philotas adds to the misfortune buy charging into the flank of Abadan who had mistakenly decided to focus his attention in the wrong direction.

Coenus: I can see a commotion brewing in the Persian rear. My heart pounds and I shout encouragement to my anxious soldiers that our king has begun the assault and soon, it will be our turn.

[Marathon]

Abadan is not as incompetent as I thought. He evades the second strike of Philotas aimed at his vulnerable flank. Calis continues his drive into the Persian rear as he completes the destruction of Xshathrities' command. The rest of the Persian remains stationary as my Companions press on relentlessly.

[Marathon]

Calis gracefully leads his unit around Aorang's veteran Persian regular infantry who have not acted upon my incursion. I sent Arrabaeus' lancers to dislodge the inactive Mithridates from the northern heights but he foils that plan by quickly leading his horses down the slope towards Philotas. Demetrius, in a support position, reacts to this new threat and gallops his troops into the now exposed Mithridates, leaving 400 more Persian dead.

Coenus: The time is now. I order my own unit and Craterus to advance. The ford is only wide enough for two group of units to pass simultaneously, so my attack must be swift and conclusive or I will be bottled up.

[Marathon]

The Persians show some stubbornness but their defeat is certain. Philotas' spears end the usefulness of Abadan's cavalry but not before losing 200 of his own soldiers. A melee occurs between Arrabaeus and Mithridates with my troops gaining the upper hand. Calis continues to befuddle Aorang's Apple Bearers.

Coenus: Covered by Kallias and Anacius on the slope behind me, the infantry marches through the Granicus toward destiny. Persian arrows kill soldiers in my own unit and tow unseen Persian cavalry units rush to head us off before I can fully cross.

[Marathon]

Calis' superior military skills cause Aorang to fail his soldiers. He turns and exposes his rear which Demetrius gleefully exploits, leaving 300 dead infantrymen on the plain. Mithraidates is given the coup de grace and his command lies trampled under Arrabaeus' horses. My attention is drawn to my left and by Memnon's Greeks. He has left the Persian defensive line and starts moving in the direction of my position. I watch his advance and realize that his charge is aimed not at me, but at Philotas. He recognizes the danger and rides his cavalry out of harms way. The momentum of Memnon's armored infantry carry the Greeks into the vacated position of Philotas before they could be halted. Memnon was the main threat facing Coenus and I silently urge him that the time is ripe for my infantry to seal the fate of the Persian army.

Coenus: I must engage the enemy even it means charging up that steep bank. To my right, Craterus' spearmen meet Vivan's cavalry with good results but the enemy holds its ground. The gods smile as the Persian archers inflict no casualties.

[Marathon]

Persian movement, to my left, means Coenus has joined the battle so I send Calis and Philotas into the rear of the Persian position while they are diverted by my phalanxes and hypasists. Memnon turns his attention towards Arrabaeus but he does a quick fighting withdrawal before the mercenaries could do any damage. I hope he uses this to get behind Memnon and stab at his vulnerable backside. Demetrius slaughters 800 more of Aorang's men and routs him.

Coenus: A message, from Kallias, states that the Persians are out of his range and he is moving forward to give me what support he can. I do not want the archers and slingers firing uphill over my head. Craterus holds for support. I move up, on his flank, and charge Utana's cavalry which men my men drive back with only 100 dead. Curse those Persian archers. They weaken my force by 400 men.

[Marathon]

I order Demetrius to break off his pursuit of the routed infantry and go assist Arrabaeus in dealing with the bigger threat posed by Memnon. My bodyguard charges the routed Aorang but some of his men make it a tough fight even in their weakened state. Calis and Philotas reach the Persians at the same time. A quick reaction by Rheomithries' cavalry gives Calis his first setback of the day and he is reduced to half strength. Philotas has better luck as 400 of Nekdel's infantry fall to his spears.

Coenus: My heavily armored spearmen march forward. Not only do they push back Utana, their charge carries them into Sarafraz's archers who retreats with 400 of men lost. Craterus gets into a slugfest with Vivana and their combined dead reach 1100.

[Marathon]

I tell Calis to retreat and send Demetrius' fresher troops to replace his. Memnon remains neutralized by the horsemanship of Arrabaeus as I break off my personal pursuit of Aorang's still routed unit. Philotas capitalizes and charges into a group of fleeing Persian archers, kills 400 of the vermin, but to my horror, his command routs! They will have be taught a lesson about toleration for cowardice.

Coenus: Hegelochus moved up on Craterus' right flank. He helps him defend against aggressive Persian charges by Vaumissa, who is driven back, and Vivan, who destroyed in the attempt. Hegelochus maintains the initiative and leads an assault on Nekdel's infantry and forces them to lose ground. A setback occurs on the left flank of the line when Meleager's aggressive attack against Rheomithries' cavalry costs him 400 dead. Kallias makes his presence felt and inflicts more loses than the his Persian counterparts.

[Marathon]

Arrabaeus' hard work pays off as launches a charge at the rear of Memnon's Greeks. He kills 300 and pushes them back in confusion. I begin reorganize my dwindling cavalry strength, including the still routed Philotas, and look for the best place to effectively use what remains. My two choices are to throw them at Memnon and Aorang's newly reform infantry or support Coenus.

Coenus: Rheothimires overconfidence leads to the destruction of his unit. After Meleager had been staggered, he charged me but my men were ready for him and the last 500 of his men paid the price. Acarius' slingers duel with a unit of Persian archers with each inflicted losses.

[Marathon]

Even at a great disadvantage, Memnon's soldiers are hard to kill. Arrabaeus continued pursuit only kills 200 and he loses 100 of his own men but Memnon is further driven from the battle. I make my decision that whatever cavalry strength, except Arrabaeus, will be used to trap the rest of the Persian army still around the second objective. Demetrius threat to the rear of Utana makes the Persian cavalry face my lancers to only be hit from behind by Nicanor.

Coenus: I tell Craterus and Hegelochus to hold position, because of the Persian cavalry in front of them, while the rest of command continues the offensive. Nicanor's swordsmen slash through Utana. Hegelochus and Craterus combine to add 600 to the Persian cavalry death toll. Even with this good fortune, Craterus cannot stop his shaken soldiers from falling back towards the ford. My own unit reaches the objective and watches as the last of Sarafraz's archers fall in hail of stones.

[Marathon]

I chuckle as Arsities returns to the battle. It was not even worth mentioning that he quickly withdrew in a cloud of dust northward when he spotted my troops in his rear. I did not think he would have the courage to return. Memnon's good fortune is running low as Arrabaeus uses the advantage of charging over the crest of a hill to deeply penetrate the ranks of his infantry. Four hundred Greeks add to the trail of dead bodies indicating Arrabaeus' path.

Coenus: Nicanor's men tear through the last of Utana's cavalry and wreak havoc on Nekdel, routing them. Meleager then finishes off Vaumissa's routed unit without hesitation. Craterus holds off the charge of Spithridates but loses 200 more men. When Hegelochus counter-charges in support of him, he kills a number of the cavalrymen but is now at half strength. I order him to withdrawal. Kallias duels with Spenta's archers and loses 800 men in the process while only killing a little more than half that number.