It is 3000 BC, according to calendars which will be invented millennia from now. The world has already known battles, fights, and scuffles. This year, the world finally learns about war. Grand armies are marching out of Memphis and Atlantis, magnificent fleets are sailing. The people of the Mediterranean are in awe at this display of organization and resources… or in despair if caught between them.
The fleets are currently fighting to get hold of the Mediterranean with the goal to secure a landing on the enemy homeland. However, no such endeavour is likely to succeed until the naval bases of Crete (for Atlantis) or Cyprus (for Egypt) have fallen. Meanwhile, the land route is not left untested: the colonies in Anatolia finally get the reinforcements from home that they requested and battle rages in the central Anatolia plateau. The war raging has made travel between the 2 sides hazardous even for neutral parties, forcing unaligned settlements to seek stronger bonds with whichever power claims the area they reside in; The control of Memphis and Atlantis over their land is likely to grow significantly as the war continues.
The land lane: Anatolia plateauThe place which spawned the war is, fittingly, the first place in which it is fought. The main place of fighting is a set of suspicious pyramidal structures near a cave that has been reported as having some rare faintly glowing ore patches – Relics and Orichalcum, both sides suspect. A prize worth fighting over.
The Egyptian army marches first, confident In the unmatched strength of their Sky temple, a veritable floating fortress bringing to the field the same kind of firepower that the navy uses. Its only downside, only one can be fielded. The rest of the soldiers are in part on foot and in part carried by horse drawn carts, with low bronze clad sides and some seats. The army fields the usual combination of weapons, khopesh for melee soldiers and bows for ranged ones, including some that stay on the chariots. And of course a portion of the ranged soldiers uses Sun staves.
Soon, The Atlantean army arrives shortly after. Smaller, sure, but well equipped. Contrary to expectations, all soldiers in the army have armour and a shield, which are the only visible changes so far: fielded weapons are the usual spears, daggers and composite bows.
The sheer mass of bronze and orichalcum is intimidating, but with the ability to break their ranks from far apart with their portable Sun Cannon The Egyptian decides to engage. The first shots are fired, inaccurate but still causing noticeable casualties and panic. Arrows fly from both sides, more deadly for the unarmoured Egyptians than for the well protected Atlanteans, an advantage countered by the ability of the Sun Staff to shatter shields in one shot, and kill on the next. Only the high guard armour offers somewhat higher protection, but not enough to make hits trivial.
Before the charging ranks join in melee combat, however, a nightmarish screech is heard, coming from behind a nearby ridge. Soon, fierce feathery beasts emerge to join the fight. They are the Aetokos, the one and only animal that is present only on Atlantis and not in the rest of the region. Amazingly, they have been tamed and bred to carry Atlantean soldiers on their back, using a strange structure of wood and leather to sit with amazing stability on their sloped backs. While some keep range, shooting arrows at the Egyptian army, the rest charges ahead with spears, the first cavalry charge in history. They are fast but unarmoured, proving to be good targets for massed arrow volleys. In addition to that, they tend to panic and run if a Sun staff shot comes too close. Regardless, they are fast and it is hard to stop all of them. Even if diminished, the charge strikes the Egyptian flank, which has to resort to chopping at legs with their khopesh. Cowards or not, when surrounded by enemies the Aetokos proves to be a formidable opponent, with talons inflicting grievous wounds to unarmoured soldiers.
The Egyptian army retreats to nearby hills where the Sky Temple awaits, hopefully able to repel the incoming tide. The sun cannon is helpful, but in the end it is just one and Atlanteans have learned to disperse to reduce casualties. The battle is joined again, and finding clear shots becomes harder, but she sheer cover and mass of the temple still proves useful as a rally point. Finally, a group of riding Atleanteans manages to get next to the temple and, unable to harm it in any way, decides to board it aided by the height of their mounts. Facing a likely defeat, the disciple of Thoth on duty on the temple decides to deprive the enemy of victory against the pride of Egyptian military. He opens a panel on the temple cannon and prepares to do something. “Curse you, Atlanteans, and your horde of flightless birbs.”. He touches something inside the cannon, and the temple suddenly goes up in flames. The loud explosion causes all nearby Aetokos to scatter, and the Atlantean army stops its advance and regroups. Meanwhile Egyptians exploit the break to outright retreat and flee from the battleground, conceding this part of Anatolia to their foes. The next battle will happen in the mountain range on the border Anatolia and Levant.
The naval warNo surprises are deployed in the naval theatre, with the Atlantean Penteconter battling with the Egyptian Atet solar barge. Tactics are strikingly different: Egyptians try to keep range , targeting the enemy fleet with their deadly cannons, while Atlanteans seek to close range and use their equally deadly rams. There is no question that 1vs1 the Atet barge is a superior ship, with its ability to sink enemies while staying far enough away to avoid retaliation; while it is not easy to land an hit and the Penteconter is fast enough to catch up, chances are the temple cannon will hit long before then. However, Atet barges are rare, while Penteconters are significantly more common. The usual tactic by the Atlantean navy is to enact evasive manoeuvers and rush, accepting losses and recovering survivors after the battle. While not ideal, it scores kills often enough to keep the situation evenly matched, and
nobody has a naval advantageThe sea Lane: Cyprus and Crete With the sea contested, both sides have a hard time securing the shore for big landings. Regardless, attempts are made. Following the results of the Anatolian disaster, Egypt only makes some token raids, fully aware that it can’t fight the full might of the Atlantean military, especially without a Sky Temple to aid. Atlantis instead gets ambitious and at the expense of many Penteconters launches a significant attack on the shores of Cyprus. Their numbers are low, due to not having the full support of the navy, but the biggest factor is that Aetokos aren’t really very portable or suited for mass sea transport. Only few of them can be brought to the fight. Egypt meanwhile only has its traditional equipment and the war carts, but it can bring them in numbers being on the home ground. The battle is heated, and fought almost entirely on the beach, with Atlanteans trying to gain the shore and Egyptians trying to kill them as they come. In this battle the best use so far of the war carts is discovered: if toppled, they can make somewhat decent cover for Staff warriors, who don’t need to stand up to fire their weapons. In the end, amphibious invasions are never easy and without controlling the sea and one of their great advantages negated, Atlanteans have to retreat to their ships without succeeding in establishing a fortified camp as a base for further invasion. The Egyptian army however is greatly strained. A little more than this and they would have crumbled.
Event! Manifest destinyThe sea rumbles, Earthquakes are felt at distance and a big wave crashes on the shores of Anatolia. The damage to people that matter is not significant, but the event caused a lull in the fighting. Soon, it is discovered that a new island was born, pushed upward by a great volcano. With its strategic location between Cyprus and Crete, both sides send expeditions. However, such a memorable event deserves a speech… In particular, why does your nation deserve to rule this new land and, by extension, the Mediterranean?
Whoever provides the better reasons will surely inspire their soldiers to fight more bravely on the sea front next turn.
The island is yet unnamed, such privilege belongs to whoever first conquers it.
New designs Atlantis developed the Protection of the Bigger Fish, a scale armor that protects the entire body and comes with a small wooden shield. The front is made of orichalcum scales. After this, they tamed the Great Aetokos bird, a magnificent beast weighing almost 1 ton. To successfully exploit it they also developed a saddle, a structure of wood and leather that greatly improves the stability while mounted.
Egypt built the Sky temple, a construction as big as a ship and fully covered by bronze armour. Big enough to house some soldiers, its usefulness lies mainly in the temple cannon mounted on top. It can’t quite aim downward easily, but its great destructive power is a significant boon on the battlefield. It is also outrageously expensive. On the opposite side of the expense spectrum is the war chariot. Somebody messed up somewhere, because it is a trading wagon with some seats on it and with bronze on the sides. Faster than going on foot, very uncomfortable and not well suited for fighting on it while it moved. Provides decent cover however, and some soldiers may appreciate not having to walk.
Oricalchum tipped spear – A pole of hardwood with a strong orichalcum tip , this weapon shines in formation fights and keeps enemies at a distance. It can pierce most things rather easily, and the tip is barbed to produce more grievous wounds. [1 wood, 1 ore, 1 Orichalcum] [Cheap]
Bone composite bow – Made of bone and wood, it can propel arrows at fairly large distance and have good piercing capabilities. However, it takes a long time to manufacture, due to the need to join together layers of different materials [complex][2 wood, 1 ore] [Expensive]
High guard armour – A full set of armour and shield made entirely of orichalcum. It makes the user impervious to most common weapons. It is light and durable, thanks to the extraordinary properties of orichalcum, and it is treated to glow brightly with Atlantean glory. [2 ore 2 Orichalcum] [Expensive]
Protection of the bigger fish a fairly well crafted set of scale armour, it covers torso, legs and arms. While somewhat inferior to high guard armour, it still offers good protection against both slashing and piercing, especially from the front, which uses orichalcum scales. It comes with a wooden shield with a metal rim. [2 Wood 2 Ore 1 Orichalcum] [Cheap]
Penteconter – a slim ship made of thick wood, with an orichalcum plated ram in the front. It can house several warriors on the deck, while below deck the crew mans the oars, allowing short term burst of speed. Main propulsion system is a large square sail. Provides 1 TC [2 wood, 2 ore, 2 Orichalcum][Expensive]
Aetokos - A very large flightless bird, it is the mount of choice of your army. Very fast, if a bit coward and not particularly robust, it allows your soldiers to move on the battlefield at great speeds and perform great charges. It can be deadly in a fight, when it decides to fight. Thanks to good saddles, your soldiers are comfortable while riding and perform better. [4 wood] [Expensive]
Mule caravan – many mules, in a line, delivering good carried in their saddle bags. The mule is perfectly adapted to uneven terrain that would make carts less easy to use. And you don’t have to embark a cart on ships. Provides 1 TC [1 wood] [Cheap]
Khopesh – A bronze sickle-sword, capable of cutting through flesh quite easily, as well as being useful for tearing off limbs and hooking shields and similar. [1 wood, 1 ore] [Cheap]
Wooden bow – a simple wooden bow, capable of propelling arrows at a fairly large distance. [1 wood] [Cheap]
Sun staff – an ornate bronze clad wooden staff, at its top sits an intricate conglomeration of alien tech tied together with human ingenuity. When activated, it starts humming then it produces a globular light that flies straight toward where the staff was aimed, extremely hot to the point of producing a small explosion on impact. It can inflict grievous wounds even through heavy armor, and is most often deadly on unarmoured enemies. It has a longer range than bows, but is less accurate at a distance and quite slower to reload. [1 wood, 2 ore, 1 Relics] [Alien] [Expensive]
Atet solar barge – a wide and slow ship, moved primarily by oars. It can hold many soldiers on the deck, but the most important feature is the centrally mounted Sun temple, a very large version of the Sun staff. Its fiery power can easily destroy or cripple any wooden ship it hits, but it is not trivial to aim, being fixed to the deck. Even when it misses, however, it turns sea water in a significant quantity of hot mist, causing inconvenience to enemies. Provides 1 TC. [2 wood, 1 ore, 2 Relics][Alien] [Very expensive]
Sky temple - A pyramid shaped structure, it is heavily built and armored. It has a Sun cannon which it uses as a heavy weapon. Floats roughly 1 m from the ground and is extremely slow. [3 wood 3 ore, 4 Relics][Alien] [National effort]
"War" ChariotA converted civilian cart previously used to ferry cargo, the conversion consisting mostly of a bronze plating. not fast, not well protected and not stable. [2 wood, 1 ore][Cheap]
Cart caravan – an horse pulling a cart, it is a great way to move goods across the vast plain areas of Egypt. Provides 1 TC [1 wood] [Cheap]
The map is divided in 2 lanes. One is a Land based lane, less affected by naval advantage. The other is the sea lane, which relies heavily on Navy.
Land lane: Atlantis > Greece > Anatolia > Levant > Egypt
Sea Lane: Atlantis > Crete >
> Cyprus > Egypt
Atlantis: 1 ore, 1 wood, 1 Orichalcum. Atlantean control: 4/4. Egyptian control: 0/4
Egypt: 1 ore, 1 wood, 1 Relics. Atlantean control: 0/4. Egyptian control: 4/4
Crete: 1 wood. Atlantean control: 4/4. Egyptian control: 0/4
: ?? wood, ?? ore, ?? Special. Atlantean control: 1/2. Egyptian control: 1/2
Cyprus: 1 ore. Atlantean control: 0/4. Egyptian control: 4/4
Greece: 1 ore. Atlantean control: 4/4. Egyptian control: 0/4
Levant: 1 wood. Atlantean control: 0/4. Egyptian control: 4/4
Anatolia: 1 Orichalcum, 1 Relics. Atlantean control: 2/4. Egyptian control: 2/4
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Topic: Ancient arms race - ENDGAME (Read 3688 times)