In Progress Year of 2 Emperors (Historically Accurate AJE Scenario)

[Agesilaus]

MULTIPLAYER ALEA JACTA EST SCENARIO

Welcome to Imperial Rome, plebeians.

The year is 68 BC, and Rome is busy celebrating its newest Emperor, Otho. The last emperor said something dumb like "kill me if it's for the good of Rome!" and got stabbed in the face. I won't be making that mistake, so join the party and rejoice! Otho is here to stay!

Here's me relaxing in Rome. I'm obviously a very talented general; remind me to execute whoever wrote the lies in my biography:

A brief overview of my invincible empire:

Unfortunately, some people on the distant borders of Rome are confused. They are being played by my multiplayer opponents, whose names escape me right now because they are traitors. Time to teach these scrublords why it's called the Year of 2 Emperors:

Here are some tactical decisions I can make. I can obviously recruit soldiers, make moves, etc, and there's another options menu to hold amazing parties and gladiatorial games. Rumour is that there are spies in this very forum, though, so forgive me for not showing which boxes I ticked. Maybe the two pretenders will identify themselves in this thread and join the discussion.

Right now the action is up north on the other side of the snowy alps, and somewhere east in the burning deserts. This turn, Otho will be doing nothing but partying with his loyal Romans in Rome, like a real Emperor.

Finally, the Jews are revolting (suck it Flavians):

 

[Agesilaus]

The party is a roaring success; cities all over the empire hold their own festivals in imitation:

With the party in Rome winding down, let's take a look at the big picture. Here's a shot of centre of our Empire; please note the countless water taxis shipping party goers back home. Otho is nothing if not a considerate emperor:

Unfortunately, Poseidon was so angry at the Flavians and Vitellius that he decided to sink some of my ships. Or maybe it's not a good idea to take a water taxi in December/January?

Up in the frozen wastes:

East:

Finally, here is a shot of the loyal soldiers who are holding everything together:

Apparently things are getting worse out east, too; double-suck-it Flavians:

There will be updates on tactical maneuvers in the future; for now Otho needs to survive his hangover. Rest assured that all borders are safe and countless loyal Romans are heading to recruitment stations as we speak.

 

[Agesilaus]

Another turn, another month gone by. Rome is peaceful, so let's look at a frozen outpost up north that I suspect is about to turn hot:

As you can see, I have it well defended. The green circles signify strength, and the number shows that I have 5 individual stacks up there. Basically, Vitellius and his savages are toast if they dare to set foot near the Alps.

The rest of the world recognises my immense power and offers their services:

But some bad news:

I'm not sad that Macer died, I'm just sad I wasn't the one to kill him. Apparently the Flavians now control north-west Africa; damn you Vespasian!

 

[Agesilaus]

No further updates until tomorrow. Please observe mourning for the wrongfully assassinated Macer.

Public announcement to the Flavians and the no-name loser up north: If you come to Rome now and surrender, I will forgive you and let you work as oarsmen on one of my many military vessels.

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

Flavius "Ben Garrison" Vespasian is the real Emperor.

The resemblance to Berlusconi is no small deal, this guy will fuck u and ur women. Be afraid.

 

[Agesilaus]

Oh please, Vespasian is busy dealing with revolting jews and threatening parthians. He's a milllion miles from Rome, and good luck finding a boat that won't sink if his lardarse hops on board.

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

death to the false emperor

edit: following lp, AJE is always nice

 

[Agesilaus]

Winter is... leaving?

That's right, it's March and the northerners are free to leave their tents and hovels.

Here's their first little foray into civilized lands:

Yup, right where I predicted the attack would come. It doesn't look too weak, but it may be a decoy for a force swinging down south. I'll handle it with ease, though, because real Romans have a little something called training and discipline.

Things will heat up in the coming turns, but see the next image for the bottom line: we're still top dog!

All home counties controlled by yours truly. Most of the outer dominions, too. Take a look at the power of the army in Rome, too, compared to the savages attacking my outpost by the alps. If even half my force marched north, the enemy would melt away quicker than the snow.

 

[Agesilaus]

It's going to be another couple of turns before the action begins, but for now let's have a look at the empire under Vespasian:

Weakness, failure, doom. Three words that best describe his "rule" so far. Is that what anybody wants for Rome? At this point, it's a race to see who will kill Vespasian first. Maybe he'll spoil our fun and do it with his own hand, instead.

Back to the main theatre, and you can see that things are progressing slowly. It's occurring where the blue general is located; the zoom level removes the buildings and siege icon.

Otho is just a few months ride away with a force so large it causes earthquakes as it marches. All will be resolved soon enough.

 

[Agesilaus]

HAH! The noose tightens around Vitellius' neck. As you can see, my plan has gone off perfectly. He may have caused a breach in my fort, but in three days my two approaching armies will hit him, and my army within the fort will rush out. He's toast, to put it politely (Romans eat toast, right?):

With Vitellius out of the way, I am turning my attentions to Vespasian. Here I am patrolling the coast to ensure that nobody tries to skip across the water and seize Rome:

Notice I said "nobody", not "no roman". That's because I don't know who will try to seize Rome; apparently the whole world is up in arms because Vespasian is too incompetent to manage his little corner of the Empire. The Jews are revolting, rebels are amassing in Africa, and now we have two new messes to deal with after we kill the pretenders:

THANKS VESPASIAN!

 

[Agesilaus]

In today's news, the race between Vespasian and Vitellius to see who can screw up the empire first continues:

Apparently Romans can no longer safely sail the Black Sea or the English Channel.


Closer to home there is cause for celebration. The massive army has successfully raised the siege, and is currently camped outside the fort. The army isn't active right now so I can't pounce, but he'll have to leave with his tail tucked between his legs, or attack my invincible formation. On one road lies eternal shame, the other a glorious death at the end of my gladius. Your move, Vitellius:

My concern about a southern attack force was well-justified. You can see here a small blue army moving eastward; it is attempting to meet up with another force I spotted where the Alps meet the sea. Thanks to my tactical genius, my cavalry already laid waste to the land, so our blue friends have to deal with severe supply issues. They will probably camp there a little while trying to regain cohesion and figuring out how to fix their supply problems, but it doesn't matter. As you can see, Otho is assembling an enormous force to meet them in Northern Italia.

Finally, it seems the pressure is getting to poor old Vespasian. It seems he didn't appreciate my raid into Greece (conducted secretly off camera):

If you want the towns I conquered in Epiros back, then come get them. Otho accepts your challenge. If you are dumb enough to set foot in my domain, Otho will march on you and personally slay Vespasian in martial combat. Consider yourself warned.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 8 is kind of quiet, if you ignore the total disintegration of the Roman Empire. Congratulations, Vitellius, you are officially the biggest disaster to happen this century:

At least Otho's territories remain calm.



If you look at the bottom right of the image, you can see proof that Vespasian is a paper tiger. It's baby's first invasion force, targeting some remote western village. Wake me up when he has the backbone to march a few hundred miles to the east, thanks.

My army north of the Alps is still inactive, and Vitellius is too gutless to attack. Looks like the siege was a total failure, it's just a question now of whether my general will wake up and cut him down before he retreats. Given the massive scale of the revolts up north, I'm assuming that Vitellius is moving all his forces south and leaving the borders unguarded.

 

[Agesilaus]

Good news: the war for the northern alps ended in total victory

bad news: apparently there are two massive armies marching around cisalpine gaul. My men are on the wrong side of the Alps. And in Iberia. And in Ilyria.

 

[Agesilaus]

Okay, good news! My army is ready to avert disaster in Cisalpine Gaul! As you can see, the men north of the alps successfully marched south this month and met up with my force under Otho. The army from Iberia landed in Pisae, too, so about 80% of my active forces are ready to smash Vitellius. The blue armies are in Genoa and Mediolanum; I'm going to march into Genoa and smash the smaller army, then when additional forces arrive from Ilyria I will destroy the force attacking Mediolanum.

Bad news, this loser dared to show his face again. The siege has started anew, although there are no supplies and he'll probably starve like an idiot:

Here you can see me evacuating Illyria. I took some cities there in order to recruit the three auxiliary forces. They've successfully finished recruiting, so I'm going to ship them into northern Italia to join the fight.

Further south in Rome I recruited the gladiators. Took a little hit to national morale, but I'm holding games and propaganda campaigns to keep myself popular. Once all my forces are joined, including my new gladiator unit, Vitellius will be smashed once and for all.

Comedy image:

Vespasian tried and failed to sack the undefended village in far western Iberia. He retreated inland and is out of supply with no hope of victory; apparently a few civilians were able to fend off his army by throwing rocks and mean words.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 11 saw some big moves in Cisalpine Gaul, and our first major battle. Here's the strategic map:

Run down of what happened:

1. You can see that the Vitellian general who was holding siege north of the Alps has moved south. He crossed the alps with most of his men and is standing one province to the west of Mediolanum.

2. Mediolanum surrendered to the Vitellian general who crossed mid-way through the Alps from West to East. He seems to have at least half the total force and by taking Mediolanum he seized the treasury.

3. My forces have all arrived; The army from Ilyria has arrived in north east Italy, and the army from Iberia has met with Otho and the gladiators just north of Pisae.

4. My glorious army moved south to Genoa as I indicated in the above turn. Genoa was taken before my arrival, but the Vitellians were still present in the province.

When I moved south into Genoa, I attacked the major Vitellian force that had just taken the city. It was a tremendous victory; here's the overall analysis:

Here's the specific details of the bloodiest hour of combat:

Each "specific detail" screen contains several pages, but I only included one because I'm busy celebrating my victory. As you can see on the overall analysis, Vitellius lost 8 elements of legions, a couple of auxiliary elements, and a ranged element. That alone would be expensive enough, but the rest of his army retreated into the city of Genoa! That means I have him under the siege, and Genoa lacks major fortifications. That means I can immediately assault his position and inflict a total, 100% defeat on a major part of his army. Expect a slaughter next turn.

After I am done shedding blood in Genoa, the final stage of my showdown with Vitellius can take place. I plan to combine the Genoa force with the forces assembling around Otho, and then liberate Mediolanum from Vitellius' last army. As you can see, Otho is moving north to take up a position south of the river and east of Placentia. If Vitellius' men try to move south, hopefully he can delay them long enough for the Genoa force to take up a defensive position further south and await the ultimate showdown.

 

[Agesilaus]

Another turn of big battles and major moves. Here's the Northern Theatre:

Genoa fell to our forces (see battle report later). Vitellius attempted to relieve his forces by moving south from Mediolanum with part of his army, but failed to arrive in time. He did fall upon the rear of our force and destroy some elements, but we actually won the battle and repulsed him across the river north of Genoa. It is unclear whether he will retreat back to Mediolanum or simply commit suicide. The remainder of his force moved south as predicted, but to Placentia. That means Otho did not need to engage in a desperate battle keep Vitellius out of Italy, and is not free to meet up with the invincible Victors of Genoa.

Still, there is trouble brewing in the East...

Yep, that's Vespasian, marching territory by territory towards Cisalpine Gaul. What to do about it? Perhaps I will hunker down in Italy and watch Vitellius and Vespasian butt heads. I can always clean up the mess afterwards; then again, it would be more heroic to simply smash the pretenders with my own forces.

No matter what happens, though, the Othonians have reason to celebrate:

Total and complete victory at Genoa!

If Vitellius is not summarily executed by his own men for this disaster, then there is no justice in this world!

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 13 has arrived.

Otho announces total radio silence.

All loyalists are to report to Rome. Fortress Italy will not fall.

 

[Agesilaus]

BETRAYED BY THE GODS THEMSELVES

My fleet was smashed by massive storms right as I was about to intercept Vespasian. He safely made a water-borne invasion in the dead of winter, crossing onto the eastern coast of Italy with a massive force. What little is left of my navy is now retreating to the nearest dock for repairs. Damn you Poseidon!

Vespasian may have the help of a god, but Otho is a god. The forces of the divine emperor met Vespasian in Genoa, and smashed him; half of Vespasian's invasion force is now starving and freezing to death in the mountains of central Italy:

Vespasian's men remain on the eastern coast by virtue of Othonian arms. Any crossing will have to be through the mountains of central Italy, a suicidal plan given the season.

And what of the Northern theatre? Cisalpine Gaul is completely covered in snow. Otho has drawn up a defensive line south of the river in Pisae. Woe to Vitellius if he should march across the ice.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 15, winter is over.

Capua is attacked by Vespasian, who takes it and burns it to the ground. Capua has been sacked twice in two turns.

As you can see, over 60,000 men took part in the battle. My army ultimately retreated... to the east. That leaves a narrow corridor between Rome and the traitors.

Another army awaits the attack. Troops from the north continue to arrive to partake in the Battle for Rome. Vespasian's forces lack cohesion, supplies, and any sense of decency. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Vespasian engages in diplomacy:

The war must go on.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 16.

Vespasian decides to cower in Capua.

Some people just don't have the guts to be an emperor.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 17

Italy drowns in blood

The remnants of my army are waiting in the town for a relief force from Rome. 50,000 men march out with one target in mind: Vespasian.

Yet, perhaps it is too late...

Winter Vitellius is coming.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 18

The blood-letting continues. Capua falls for a third time while Vespasian continues to attack Othonian forces in Neapolis. VItellius continues marching south, sacking the now-abandoned Pisae.

Othonian forces prepare to lift the siege of Neapolis. The final showdown with Vespasian is imminent.

The north is on fire, Vitellius' general approaches.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 19

A couple of Pyrrhic victories have kept things steady. Vespasian's reinforcements were stopped by my navy, and the forces in Neapolis were saved when reinforcements interrupted an attempt to storm the city.

All the major players are now in Italy. Otho is now ready to pounce! Everything is going according to plan!

Note that someone was moving through Perusia, just north of Rome. If they're headed to Rome, they're in for a very nasty surprise.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 20

A few more of Vespasian's men find a watery grave. His invasion was a failure and now he's camping in Luceria.

NO WAY. YOU WILL NOT MAKE ITALY HOME.

He's successfully allowed some more barbarians to pour over the border into Roman lands. Well done, Vespasian.

I think it's important to note that Otho is the only person in this game who hasn't allowed his borders to be overrun.

Vitellius is getting a little more adventurous, sending a general south with a little force. I'll leave him be for now, so that Vitellius can see that there are 60,000~ men in Rome waiting for him.

I would like to extend a formal invitation to both Vitellius and Vespasian to attend a dinner in Rome. Please leave your men and weapons at the gates, thank you.

 

[Agesilaus]

Turn 21

Prepare for Armageddon.