Master of Rome - A Caesar vs Pompey AAR

[Nepos96]

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Caesar sails towards Tarentum.

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Followed by one legion from Asia.

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And while we wait for Caesar to land in Italia, Anthony keeps himself busy by clearing the area of more rebel bands.

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Emesa has been captured by Scipio. Fabius moves quickly to intercept him.

[Nepos96]

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Turns out the capture of Emesa may have something to do with a certain Bassus stirring up trouble in Syria.

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The Parthians also do not waste time and start causing their own set of troubles. Luckily this is not a major scale invasion, but it will definitely keep Fabius busy.

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Our Arab allies are summoned, their skilled cavalry much needed against the Parthians and their hit and run tactics.

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We start recruitment of one more “prisoner” legion

[Nepos96]

Turn 42 - May 46 BC

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The Militia in Nicomedia is no more successful than the garrisons of the many other cities conquered by our armies.

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Gabinius moves against the city state of Byzantium.

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Sulla lets one of his legions go. Said legion will embark for Athens and from there sail all the way to Syria where Fabius desperately needs more men. A new legion is currently being trained in Dyrrachium anyway.

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Well, perhaps not so desperately. With just one legion and a few Arab auxiliaries, Fabius manages to crush a senatorial army twice the size of his own army. It is true that the enemy morale is in free fall, but another reason for this victory lies in the fact that the enemy legions are made up Syrian provincials hastily pressed into service. The game has a whole hierarchy when it comes to legions, with Legions recruited in Italia as the best unit in the game, immediately followed by legions recruited among Roman citizens (or romanized people) living in the provinces. After that there is a huge gap before we arrive to “provincial legions”, legions recruited among non romans with none of the discipline, training or resilience of regular legions. The only things they got in common with regular legionaries are the equipment and the numbers.

[Nepos96]

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Corinth has fallen.

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Allowing Crassus to take his legion to Athens. He too will sail for Syria, since Fabius needs good officers and not just extra units. Also, the son of Crassus going East to avenge in family is good propaganda material.

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Caesar has landed in Italia. The final battle for Rome in not too far.

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I am not sure why the Optimates have decided to split their army at this very critical time and send Petreius to take Spoletium. Although, it is highly likely they are not even aware Caesar is back and marching on Rome (again)

[Nepos96]

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Anthony will take care of Petreius and his men in Spoletium.

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A cavalry unit crosses the Alps, ready to join Caesar.

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While the recently recruited prisoner legion will join the army of Longinus and Calvinus in Carthago Nova.

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Remaining prisoners are sold into slavery.

[Nepos96]

Turn 43 - June 46 BC

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One of the greatest battles of the civil war is fought just outside the walls of Rome. Unfortunately for the Optimates, Cato is no Pompey.

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Anthony moves to intercept a smaller enemy army operating around Neapolis.

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While Fabius attempts the same against Scipio.

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Reinforcements from Greece are on their way.

[Nepos96]

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Two new cavalry units have just finished their training in Antioch.

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Byzantium has fallen.

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Allowing Gabinius to return to Asia.

[Nepos96]

Turn 44 - July 46 BC

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Gabinius takes Nicaea. I wonder what the Romans of this time would think if someone told them that one day Byzantium, Nicomedia and Nicaea would all become the actual capital of the empire (well in the case of Nicomedia more of an imperial residence but still).

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Cyzicus is the last city on the Propontis to still oppose us.

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The last great army of the Republic has now been completely destroyed. Whatever the Optimates have left, is no more than a collection of ragtag units, non Romans forced to wield a sword in the name of the Republic, militia and whatever allies the Senate has left. The second battle of Rome saw the destruction of those legions that had served in Hispania under Pompey himself (and during the civil war, under his lieutenants before fleeing to Africa). It would take a titanic effort for the Optimates to once again assemble an army of similar size and quality.

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Fabius scores another victory against Scipio. Unfortunately, he lacks the numbers to completely eradicate senatorial presence in Syria.

[Nepos96]

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Crassus has landed in Laodicea. Soon numbers will not be a problem anymore. Notice the Parthians under Pacorus not too far from the two Roman armies.

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Trebonius moves to intercept a lone legion besieging Tarentum. The survivors of the battle for Rome will not be allowed to evacuate Italia.

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Preparations for the invasion of Africa start right away. Our fleet moves to Sicilia.

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Legio V Macedonica is ready to join Sulla in Thessalonica.

[Nepos96]

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The situation in 46 BC: The Optimates can field an army not even 2/5 the size of ours. Their fleet is still capable of challenging us on the sea though.

Out of all the Objective cities, the Senate still controls Utica and Sinope (Rome is about to fall), while their allies control Cirta, Rhodes, Ancyra and Melitene.

[jbmoore68]

Who can follow along with this AAR and not want to play the game? Nepos96 should get some kind of award for doing a wonderful job!

[OldSarge]

Who can follow along with this AAR and not want to play the game? Nepos96 should get some kind of award for doing a wonderful job!

I agree, this has been a fantastic read! Plenty of nice screenshots that make it easy to follow along.

[Nepos96]

Who can follow along with this AAR and not want to play the game? Nepos96 should get some kind of award for doing a wonderful job!

Thank you for the very kind words. Only award I want is a brand new DLC for this game (I am delusional I know )

I agree, this has been a fantastic read! Plenty of nice screenshots that make it easy to follow along.

Screenshots for a game like this are a must. Lots of older AAR are now either gone or their images are now broken. Hopefully the same will not happen here!

[Nepos96]

Turn 45 - August 46 BC

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The assault on Rome sees the last defenders of the Senate die with sword in hand. Among them is Marcus Petreius, a veteran of the campaign in Hispania.

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Caesar orders his army to march towards Sicilia. There a fleet will take our veterans to Africa. Side note: you can see around Rome a “senatorial” army still around. That is actually not an army, just a few Optimates generals stranded in Italia. The game does not allow you to attack stacks that do not contain any military unit, which works great when you are moving spies around, not so great when you have a general surrounded by enemy cities. My opponent later told me that his attempt to evacuate them by sea were not successful. For game purpose, they are effectively not a threat and can be ignored.

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But before leaving for another campaign, Caesar gets to celebrate a triumph for his many victories: historically he celebrated 4 triumphs (for Gallia, Aegyptus, Numidia and against the Bosporan kingdom) plus, controversially, his victories over other Romans. Here he will celebrate just 2.

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Afranius manages to capture Tarentum, only to be intercepted and crushed by Trebonius a few days later. His attempt to flee Italia with 6 cohorts of survivors (roughly 3000 men) of the battle for Rome and a few officers, while probably the right choice, was unlikely to succeed.

[Nepos96]

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Something to keep in mind once we land in Africa.

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Cyzicus belongs to Caesar. Our conquest of Asia minor is now over.

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Yet another victory over Scipio and his army. With Cato hiding somewhere around Rome, Pompey dead and many other fleeing for their life, Scipio might actually be the last major representative of the Optimates still fighting.

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Our losses are too high, therefore we decide to send our legion back to Antioch, where replacements will be trained.

[Nepos96]

Turn 46 - September 46 BC

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To ensure an uncontested crossing of the sea, the two Caesarian fleets are merged into one. That alone should give us naval parity should a battle against the Optimates ensue.

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Fabius moves to intercept the Optimates in Palmyra. I suspect Scipio has decided to use this city as a new base of operation where he can train new replacements. I can not allow him to rebuild his army.

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Aegyptus finally providing us with the wealth it is famous for. Inflation throughout the republic also declines (inflation is only really an issue when resorting to the “special taxes” decision too often).

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Some of Rome’s eastern client kingdoms finally see the writing on the wall and decide to join the winner. King Ariobarzanes III of Cappadocia is the first one to start talks with Caesar.

[Nepos96]

Turn 47 - October 46 BC

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Fully rested, Legio XII receives the order to enforce Caesarian rule to the people of Tarsus, the provincial capital of Cilicia.

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Like a domino, another eastern kingdom deserts the Optimates. Representatives of the Senate are kicked out of the region.

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Pharnaces II finally decides to make his move. A new enemy shows up in Anatolia.

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Which prompts the activation of the Galatians (the previous event made them friendly but fixed in their home territory). Old king Mithridates had been responsible for the extermination of the Celtic aristocracy just a few decades earlier, so it is no surprise the Galatians have decided to readily throw their support behind Caesar.

[Nepos96]

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King Deiotarix, a veteran of the Mithridatic war.

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And his son, also named Deiotarix.

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King Ariobarzanes III of Cappadocia. Fun fact: his paternal grandfather, Ariobarzanes I, lost his throne to Mithridates several times. His maternal grandfather? Mithridates himself.

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Gabinius, yet another veteran of the wars against Mithridates, marches East, 2 legions might be much but with the help of the Galatians he should be able to stop Pharnaces. With him is Mithridates (the pro-Roman one), for a proper family reunion.

[Nepos96]

Turn 48 - November 46 BC

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Our fleet is defeated by Lucius Scribonius Libo (his sister would end up being Octavian’s first wife). Even though this was officially a defeat, our ships performed much better than the enemy ones (which had the advantage of number). Plus, Vatinius was only leading a fraction of the entire Caesarian fleet…

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We start the recruitment of a new legion in Ephesus.

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While Gabinius is approaching his new Galatian allies in Ancyra. Historically, Calvinus lost the first engagement against Pharnaces, before being rescue by Caesar. But Calvinus is in Hispania and Gabinius is a much better general.

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Slowly but surely, we are wearing down Scipio’s army.

[Nepos96]

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Looks like the Judeans have assembled a new army. Fabius’ men could definitely do with some punching bag for extra training.

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We finally remembered to use one of the many “surrender decision” we have available. Let’s see if we can take Tarsus without shedding blood.

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Commagene joins Caesar. The Optimates have pretty much been kicked out of the East.

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Our newest friend in the East. Looks like historically, Antiochus had a tough few years before being assassinated by the Parthians