Alexander's World Tour

[Marathon]

Arrabaeus kills 600 more archers but his combat effectiveness is reduce to below fifty percent so he has to withdrawal. Parmenio's heavy infantry engages Aorang. Even with a Poison card, they have equal number of losses. Iphis and arrows reduce Coenus to half strength. Try a Fear card on the shaken Iphis but he resists. Darius tries to charge Calis, but his slow chariots cannot keep up with Calis' lancers.

Nicanor: Ptolemy and Andromenes charge into Erdog, who is moving against Alexander's line. They inflict 500 causalities but Erdog's men hold their ground. Iraj drives back Asclepiades. I will have to leave my position or my mission will end in failure.

[Marathon]

Enough is enough. Except for a few viable cavalry units, I order a general withdrawal in hopes that individual Persian units can be isolated and destroyed. I do want my men to suffer as the stubbornly try to hold their ground against the Persian offensive. My cavalry and I will head for the objective. Philotas catches Darius off guard and kills 200 of his charioteers.

Nicanor: I have gotten orders to retreat. I tell Hephaestion to gallop towards the objective. He distracts Iraj with his movement and the rest of my men escape.

[Marathon]

My troops continue their retreat. This draws the Persians farther away my forces converge on the final objective. I play Health cards on Calis, Arrabaeus and Parmenio.

[Marathon]

I destroy what is left of Sarafraz's archers and the area around the objective is free of Persians.

[Marathon]

A less than satisfying victory. I would have rather crushed the Persians, at the end, than tricked them, but they should have defended the objective instead of trying to chase me down.

[Marathon]

After Tyre, I did want to go through another long siege so Gaza will taken by direct assault. There are three objectives and I have no intelligence what kind of defense I will find. Gaza, like Thebes, will pay for their disrespect.

I buy 3 Health, 2 Poison 2 Shield Wall cards to add to the 1 Fear, 2 Fire Arrow and 2 Rally cards that I have leftover. I also, train a few units to veteran status.

[Marathon]

My troops rush to the gate and city walls. The cavalry rushes through the destroyed gate will the infantry clambers over the wall on the siege ladders.

I learned my lesson at Issus. The cavalry will not be held back by any strict orders that limit their effectiveness. Instead, my general order is to quickly break through the enemy's defense and seek out targets of opportunity. On the other, the less mobile infantry will band together and form a line of battle which will sweep any opposition from the city. My missile units will perch upon the walls and deliver covering fire.

The cavalry clogs the gate with horse-flesh with me in the vanguard. I view the first hint of Egyptian defiance, citizens wielding axes. No matter. Nothing will stop me.

[Marathon]

It does not seem the Egyptians are cowering in their homes. Good. It will make them eaiser to kill. The infantry is still forming and organizing to receive the enemy attacks. The cavalry spreads out and head deeper into the city. I can see the first volley of arrows fly over my head and leave some axemen dead in the streets. That must be Kallias.

[Marathon]

Most of the advancing Egyptians do not look soldierly but there is a growing number of them. My infantry finished forming a line of battle. To my left, a small group consisting of two infantry units and the slingers, uses an oasis for cover. I can now see the Egyptians also have spearmen and archers but no cavalry.

I gallop my guards into the grass plaza and over Khenti's axemen, leaving 400 of them dead. Demetrius and Arrabaeus' lancers plow into separate groups of defenders, inflicting a great number of casualties. Hephaestion, on the other hand, is halted by his opponent.

[Marathon]

This battle, I am more willing to use my strategy cards early if they are needed instead of trying to save them. Except for my Health cards. I play Shield Wall on Meleager as he is threated by two enemy units but help is on the way. My plan is progressing nicely. The infantry is holding back the Egyptians, my archers are inflicting death from above and my cavalry is driving the Egyptians backwards into the city.

Well, the Shield Wall card was unnessissary since Demetrius routs Djadio and the other Egyptian units decides to bypass Mekeager. The bad news is Demetrius is already at half strength. I charge Khenti again and his men rout. Parmenio's spears drive back two separate attacks by Acacius (Egyptian spearmen, not my slingers) and Meti. Kallias and Antiochus add another 1100 corpses to the plaza.

[Marathon]

Buikhu slips behind my lines but I quickly signal Demetrius and Hegelochus to target him before he can do any harm. My infantry begins to march away from the walls and towards the Egyptian defenders. Like I said, I am playing my strategy cards early and often. I use a Rally on Hephaestion's' shaken cavalry so he can charge Kemsa. He succeeds in driving him back but his effectiveness is below fifty percent. Bai stupidly charges Amyntas' armored soldiers and after one wave of attackers is mowed down, the rest rout. Calis charges the newly rallied Kheti and 200 more axemen lie dead. Anemro tries to take advantage of Calis but he is one of finest commanders and repulses the attackers. I turn my attention to Awi and an additional 600 Egyptians die. I play a Poison card on Philotas right before he charges Kemsa but it only nets me 200 men. OK, so I am one out of three on the strategy cards.

I hear a rumble of scythed chariots approaching.

[Marathon]

My cavalry commanders need no orders that engaging chariots head on would be a rotten idea. They smartly lead their troops away.

Philotas' mounted spearmen kill all of Kemsa's men which is the first Egyptian unit eliminated. Hephaestion stops an attack by Iabi who is then destroyed by Philotas'. Arrabaeus' charge fails and he his men are pushed back but not before his strength is reduced by half. Calis makes another charge at Anemro which inflicts heavy damage.

Coenus' men catch Acacius in the flank and pushes him back without spilling any of their own blood. Coenus does not follow up. Instead he watches as Meti crashes into Craterus who is immediately to Coenus's left. Meti's success is short lived as Coenus kills 400 more men without losing a single man himself. Hegelochus rear ends Buikhu's unit who is probably rethinking his attempt at getting behind my line. Amyntas makes a bold decision to break forward and charges into a group Egyptian archers that lost their infantry support. They had started to inflict my men with arrows but not anymore.



* the dog ate my screenshot

[Marathon]

Like all my battles before this, my perfect plan has turned into a swirling, confused mass of men, horses, corpses and sound. I am left to trust my leaders to perform at their best while I shout encouragement where needed.

Buikhu's misery does not end. His infantry is pierced by Kallias' arrows and then Meleager's troops add 400 more to the death toll. Antiochus' archers climb down the wall because the enemy is being pushed out of their range. Agathon rides past the Egyptian infantry and his swordsmen cut down 800 of Akhom's archers. Amyntas tears through the Egyptian defense. First, he hits Nomti, from behind, and then he routs Bai with a second attack from the rear.

Hephaestion's command is eliminated by some of the Egyptian archers still standing.

[Marathon]

Amyntas' positive momentum is halted when he is pushed back by Mkhai. Meleager digs in and handily defeats the charge of Nomti without losing a man. My archers slaughter 600 more Egyptian axemen and spearmen while nearly 1000 enemy archers are killed by Ptolemy and Philotas.

The chariots remain inert but I am informed that enemy cavalry has appeared opposite my right flank.

[Marathon]

On the far right, Coenus sends word that more Egyptian cavalry is appearing every minute and they are threatening his position. I play a Fear card on Baki but he resists. Amyntas has already lost over half his hoplites and is forced to fall back to safety. Coenus holds off the combined attack of Baki and Meti anyway. Ptolemy withdrawals because he his position was threatened by multiple Egyptian units. Philotas continues his relentless pursuit of Ashai archers with very good results but is forced to hold his to defend against an attack by Buikhu who is eliminated in the process. Agathon's prodromoi strike down 600 more of Akhom's archers. While the Egyptian archers are running for their lives, my archers litter the plaza with 1500 more Egyptian dead.

[Marathon]

Philotas returns to meleeing Ashai's archers and he loses 700 more men but Philotas' does not see Shushu's infantry bearing down on him until it is too late. Philotas' men fight with ferocity but his command is at half strength. Hegelochus steamrolls over Djadio's men before they know it leaving his remaining men a crumple mass of bodies. Meti loses his own life leading an assault on Craterus that ends in a stalemate. I signal Calis to follow me. I lead my bodyguards and Calis' men into Awi's unit with success.

So far, my flanks have held firm while in the center, Macedonian leadership, tactics and weaponry is deveasting the Egyptian defense.

[Marathon]

I see several units withdrawal from dangerous situations before they could be damaged. My bodyguards and I continue to destroy Awi's infantry. A gap opens in their ranks and I could see Awi giving instructions to his men. I urge Bucephalus into the mass and drive my sarissa through Awi's torso, instantly killing him. This is obviously foreshadows the fate of all Gaza's defenders. In no particular order, the units of Meti, Nomti, Ragui, Ashai, Akhom and Wati are all destroyed by my men. I also hear that Wati lays dead in the streets.

Craterus is obviously going to be charged and his men are shaken, so I decide to play a Rally card on him. It does not help as what is left of his command is pushed backwards. I witness my archers mowing down row and rows of of Egyptians. My bodyguards spring at the opportunity to charge Odji's chariots in the flank but miss as Odji rides toward Nicanor. His chariots have some success versus my swordsmen. This is not goods if the rest of the Egyptian scythed chariots decide to actual join the battle. On the other side of the battle, both Ptolemy and Hegelochus have their offensive actions blunted by some stout Egyptian infantry.

[Marathon]

The gods smile on me again. Ptolemy returns to engage the Egyptians and flanks Mkhai without losing a man. Parmenio's men heroically defend against Itennu's cavalry charge but he has now lost one quarter of his men. Baki's charge meets Coenus heavily armored troops with even less success that Itenn. Kallias' elite archers targets Seini's shaken command and his indecisiveness costs him 700 more troops.

[Marathon]

Parmenio is sandwiched by the cavalry of Nsu and Itennu and does not have time to withdrawal so he must hold his position. Even at the disadvantage, Parmenino's armorer troops show deadly determination and kill an equal number of attackers. Antiochus' archers come to his aid by eliminating Nsu from his rear which allows Parmenio to go the offensive. Itennu's cavalrymen do not survive Parmenio's retaliation.

[Marathon]

The chariots drive into the infantry on my left flank. Odji kills 500 of Nicanor's men which forces him to retreat. Nicanor's command is at half strength and shaken. Shai's chariots have less success against Andromenes. Calis drives back Anemro but he is also only at half strength. Asclepiades' light cavalry inflicts more damage on Shushu who is now surrounded. Kallias makes Oba's immobile cavalry pay for their incursion close to the city walls. Most of the Egyptian infantry has now been dealt with and the only real threat comes from their cavalry and chariots.