Master of Rome - A Caesar vs Pompey AAR

[Nepos96]

Turn 5 - April 49 BC

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The battle for Massalia is a great success, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of the other Ahenobarbus who previously was caught by surprise at Emporiae) barely manages to gather the survivors for a few more days of defiant resistance.

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But Caesar does not relent, one final assault is all he needs before the great Greek city falls in his hands.

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The XIII Legion is finally back into action, having recently landed in Genua. Young Sulla is ordered to free the coastal road from Gallia to Italia of rebels.

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Our freshly recruited Legion can march to Rome, where Anthony is now supervising the recruitment of even more legionaries.

[Nepos96]

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But even legionaries need the support of auxiliary units. Sicilian troops are on their way from the south, though a few thousands of them will stop briefly in Croton to help speed up local works to repair the city walls.

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Caesar has been so successful in these early stages of the civil war, enough prisoners are available to form a new legion, this time fighting on behalf of the Populares.

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Labienus, Caesar’s most skilled legate in Gaul (and a quite talented cavalry officer), has officially defected to the Optimates, alongside a few horsemen. I despise treason, but I can appreciate a man loyal to his principles. Interestingly, the man does have a custom portrait, but the game prefers to use a generic portrait for him in the scenario. Even more interestingly, is son is available in the following scenario (Mark Anthony in the East) as a defector to the Parthians.

[Nepos96]

Turn 6 - May 49 BC

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Massalia has fallen.

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And it looks like during the final stages of the siege, the commanders of the defenders was one Apollonides. Ahenobarbus probably did not wish to fall alongside the city and escaped by sea. I could perhaps have tried to blockade him inside, but the Pompeian fleet is lurking around and Ahenobarbus is no threat to the Caesarians. Interestingly though, he kind of is a threat to Caesar, since his great-great-grandson would one day crush the Julio-Claudian dynasty (emperor Nero, born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus).

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Caesar immediately leaves for Hispania, though not with great haste, as his army deserves a few days of rest.

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Lucius Aelius Tubero, having previously led a detachment to conquer the small city of Ilerda, a key supply hub in northern Hispania, prepares his men for the short journey back to the main Caesarian army in Hispania.

[Nepos96]

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Legio VII is finally unlocked and ready to join the fight.

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Same goes for the XVI Legion, the last two legions to become available to Caesar will slowly (due to the lack of roads) make their way to the front.

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Pompeian fleet sighted off the coast of Sicily, Unlikely that the Optimates can mount an expedition to Italy so quickly. Probably just shuffling around some leaders and units.

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New “Pompeian” legion ready for orders in Placentia. One more to add to Anthony’s army. Said legion will need some reinforcements though, as it is still considerably understrength.

[Nepos96]

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Senatorial envoys are making their way to the courts of Rome’s eastern allied rulers. Galatians and Cappadocians are the first to answer, but we expect Thracia and Commagene (among others) to follow suit.

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Caesar networking with those senators who chose to remain in Italy bring some results. Otherwise, a fairly uneventful turn.

[Nepos96]

Turn 7 - June 49 BC

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Another uneventful month. Seeing as the Pompeians were refusing to show up, Fabius attempted to gain a foothold south of the Iberus river, only for the Pompeian legions to finally appear. No battle ensued, and Fabius decide that it would be wise to return to their entrenched position north of the river.

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Tubero’s legion, on his way to join Fabius army, manage to hit hard the garrison of Salduba. However, without time to spare for a proper siege, Tubero decided to leave the fairly insignificant city and its garrison behind.

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Rebels crushed in Nicaea…

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And Albigia.

[Nepos96]

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More loyalty gained among the people of Gallia. Wish this event targeted Italia more instead, as I am doing my requisitions there now.

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Another reminder that the people of Rome are hungry.

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The one event of note for this month. Caesar sent for Brutus’s fleet in Emporiae. A joint land-naval operations may be in the cards.

[Nepos96]

Turn 8 - July 49 BC

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Rebel activity in Gallia has been eradicated. Trebonius can now march back south, before taking his legion (one of the two legions from Cisalpine Gaul originally commanded by Gaius Antonius) to Rome. The other Cisalpine legions will follow shortly after. Caesar is about to concentrate between 8 to 10 legions in Hispania, therefore he estimates he does not need those 2 extra legions, nor his commander, seeing as enough junior officers have already joined him in the past few months. Mark Anthony, however, could do with some reinforcements.

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The VII Legion (and the XVI) are still descending from northern Gaul. They might arrive only once the fighting is already over.

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Drought in Gallia plus another drought in Moesia, Thracia & Graecia. I have no forces in the latter and I am about to strip the former of all units.

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Looks like the Pompeians under Octavius are more than happy to just keep Fabius’ army in check, positioning their army south of the river. If they can keep as many Caesarian legions as possible busy in Hispania while Pompey gathers more men in the East for a pincer maneuver, that would be a success for Marcus Octavius. And it’s not like Fabius can attempt to dislodge them, numerical disadvantage aside, crossing a river before attacking a well-entrenched army sounds like a recipe for disaster. Caesar could attempt to reinforce Fabius’ army with his own legions before attempting to overwhelm the Pompeians with sheer numbers. However, Caesar does not intend to play by Octavius’ rules. A naval landing is planned to take place south of their position, so that the enemy’s supply lines may be endangered causing them to panic and act rashly.

[Nepos96]

Turn 9 - August 49 BC

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Having landed in Saguntum unopposed, Caesar prepares his men for a short march North, planning to corner the Pompeian army between his own legions and those of Fabius.

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Meanwhile Decimus catches a small fleet (about 50 ships) from Massalia by surprise, the last men still fighting for an independent Massalia and the Optimates wiped out effortlessly. Parmeno will have the dubious honour of going down in history as the last independent commander from a Greek city state in the Western Mediterranean, long after the fall of Tarentum and Syracuse (Emporiae also lost its independence around this time, but I have not met any commander from that city).

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Speaking of fleets, our shipyards worked overtime, netting us some extra heavy warships and money. Here in particular, we gained 25 extra Quinqueremes (a regular squadron contains 50), worth about 320000 denarii. Not bad!

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And more light ships (triremes) as well. The money I save here by not having to produce ships on my own, can be spent replenishing the ranks of my legions.

[Nepos96]

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Thracia and Commagene provide military support to the Optimates. In the case of Thracia, it is a full army.

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In Rome (and other cities), the local fortifications have been repaired).

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Aulus Gabinius joins the ranks of the Caesarians. Not only he is a skilled commander, quite a lot of history revolves around this guy. As governor of Syria, he received a request for help from the Parthian king’s brother (who was at the time fighting for the throne of Ctesiphon). However, a similar request from Auletes (plus a possible bribe) convinced him to target the much weaker Ptolemaic kingdom. This expedition had 3 lasting consequences: his successor as governor of Syria, Marcus Licinius Crassus, inherited the Parthian issue, which led to the disaster of Carrhae (Rome is still at war with them as of this update, Pompey refusing to make concessions); several thousands Roman legionaries were left in Egypt after the invasion, thus now serving the Alexandrine court as mercenaries (we may encounter these Gabiniani at a later point, as an elite unit within the Ptolemaic army); and finally, as a result of certain illegalities committed during said expedition, Gabinius was exiled from Rome, before being recalled by Caesar. Gabinius may have committed illicit acts during his governorship, but there is no denying the man can lead armies effectively. Despite Caesar fighting of behalf of the Roman people, he was definitely not above surrounding himself with men who had been convicted of serious crimes just a few years earlier.

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Agents are sent to cause subversion in several Greek and Africa cities. This action will help us earn loyalty in those regions, which has several positive effects: with enough loyalty, sympathizers will relay to us detailed information about the whereabouts and size of enemy armies in the area (useful if I am planning a naval invasion and wish to avoid encountering enemy units of the beaches), it will deny the enemy VPs unless the enemy wastes men to garrison these cities and conversely it means that those cities will not require a garrison once I conquer them.

[Nepos96]

Turn 10 - September 49 BC

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Panic clouds the judgement of the Optimates leadership, as Marcus Octavius attempts to get out of a tricky situation by trying to knock out Fabius’ army before Caesar’s arrival. Despite possessing twice as many men, Octavius also suffers twice as many losses. Fabius strategy of acting as the bait is working perfectly.

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Caesar takes over the city of Iliturgi.

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The decisive battle Caesar has been seeking against the Pompeians in Hispania is looking like a reality now. Soon the Hispanic campaign will be over.

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A drought in Hispania. Luckily, we are fighting in a well-supplied and developed area, hence out armies hardly feeling the effect of the drought.

[Nepos96]

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A new legate, Quintus Cornificius, ready to take up command of one of our legions.

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Another legate and former tribune joins Caesar’s ever-growing list of commanders. This one can lead either an army of a fleet and would be quite effective at either job. For the time being, he can just wait in Rome for further orders.

[Nepos96]

Turn 11 - October 49 BC

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Not the decisive battle I was hopingfor. I suppose Marcus Octavius simply had ordered his men to disengage withing the first few hours of battle, preventing the Caesarians from delivering the final blow. One mistake on Caesar’s part was not leaving some unit behind in Dertosa, to stop the Pompeians from retreating south, thus forcing them to fight and die on the spot. Still, the last two battles did manage to inflict quite a few casualties on the enemy, forcing him to abandon a favorable defensive position and leaving Hispania exposed to Caesar and Fabius’ armies.

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With Octavius trying to retreat deep into Hispania, Caesar can now march unopposed against Carthago Nova, one of the two provincial capitals of the peninsula.

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While Fabius will try to push westward, to bring the fight to the interior of Hispania and keep enemy legions away from the coast but more importantly to keep the pressure on Octavius’ army.

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Quintus Pedius, nephew of Caesar, leaves Rome to join his uncle’s army.

[Nepos96]

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While Dolabella moves his fleet to Syracuse, to pick up the unused transport ships located in the local harbour.

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I loathe the idea of selling Roman citizens into slavery, but I know my opponent will not be troubled by the thought of selling Caesarian prisoners to slave merchants. War is an expensive business, and it looks like the Republic will be engulfed into this civil war for many more years.

[Nepos96]

Turn 12 - November 49 BC

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Looks like Dolabella suffered quite some losses while trying to reach Syracuse. Getting new ships to his fleet will be quite costly, especially since we are many months away from March (tax month).

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Caesar’s army is debilitated by some local epidemic. Big armies tend to be hit by this event more frequently. Luckily, with no major fighting in sight, we can easily shrug off this event (one time though, I lost a game because of this event taking place on the very penultimate turn of the game, right before the final and decisive battle of the war).

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Nothing stands between Caesar and Carthago Nova now.

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More networking, more future opportunities.

[Nepos96]

Turn 13 - December 49 BC

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By the end of the year Caesar has accomplished his goal of securing for his side Hispania’s most important city. Only the death in battle of Marcius Rufus, one of our legates, minorly tarnish the significance of this victory.

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Beaten at every turn, demoralized and now with the provincial capital lost to Caesar, surviving Pompeian soldiers desert en-masse their commanders, ready to surrender the rest of the Peninsula to Julius Caesar. It is the official end of the campaign for Hispania and one less front for Caesar to worry about.

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The surrendered soldiers are arranged into 4 legions, scattered around the province. Thousands of survivors though managed to flee by sea before the arrival of Caesar’s men, willing to continue the fighting in Africa and Greece. Among them, Octavius, Afranius and Petreius.

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Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus is appoint the new Proconsul for Hispania. With him are the two last legions to leave Gallia (VII and XVI), to provide a core of troops loyal to the Populares. The new Pompeian legions that just joined us may not be as reliable as we would like to believe.

[Nepos96]

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Fabius’ army can now embark for Naples, where his troops will be able to spend the winter resting and waiting for replacements.

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Caesar orders his men to leave for Tarraco, where they will wait for the fleet to come back and transport them to Italia.

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With military operations in Hispania over, the choice for Caesar now is to either invade Africa and secure the supply of grain to Rome, or attack Pompey in Greece. According to our informers in Greece, Pompey is in Athens with a huge army, at least 12 legions (including the two former Caesarian legions that were with him in Italia at the start of the civil war).

[Nepos96]

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One argument in favour of an African campaign.

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Guess you are not yourself when you are hungry. Luckily Anthony should be able to handle that.

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Bad news from the north, no extra income from trade (I could have really used the extra money, usually about 150000 denarii I believe) and loss of national morale.

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And when it rains, it pours.