LancerDancer

Legions: Rise of Rome

Good post Enalais, I'm glad to see you understand what to do.

Legions: Rise of Rome

LordZell said
I finished my sheet.

Good job, I'll get working on your mission right away.

EDIT: Your mission has been issued.

SECOND EDIT: The chief settlement of Liguria is Genua, modern day Genoa. I have updated your mission to include this.

Legions: Rise of Rome

Enalais said
Do you or I come up with the outcomes of the battle?

Go back and read the section on battles, in the original OOC post.

I also urge all other players to ensure they have read the OOC post before playing, as per the standard of any role play since the dawn of man.

Legions: Rise of Rome

I've had to edit the map, because I put Macedonia in completely the wrong place *face palms*.

Changes are:

1) Moved Macedonia to its right location.

2) Province of Apollonia is now under Roman control (will not interfere with thorgili, as it's already been stated his men own the city)

3) Thracia has been included in light blue, just above Macedonia.

Legions: Rise of Rome

Byrd Man said
It's not too late to throw a sheet up is it? I've been debating about joining this one just because this period in Roman history is one of my favorite periods in all of history.

Nope, so long as you get it up within 24 hours, you'll be included in this round of missions.

Enalais said
Uhhh, do you want me to skip to Sparta or actually have a few posts of the march?

That is entirely up to you.

Legions: Rise of Rome

RomanAria said
Oh gosh. I'm sorry, this seemed like such a brilliant idea for me to do, but I only have five minutes to sit down and write at any one time and I can hardly cram writing a giant post into my schedule. Agh. My apologies for thinking I could do this.

I do not expect people to have to write gigantic posts. My first IC post was large because it contains loads of information essential to all of the players. Truely, so long as each post progresses your mission, I'm not bothered with how long it is. Within reason, of course. No one liners, or anything of the kind, but a couple of paragraphs here and there should suffice nicely. On the other hand, players are free to make their posts as large they wish - it's all down to individual preference, really.

Still, if you do not think you are able to join, then that's okay. Thanks for showing interest anyway.

---

On another note, Rome has a shortage of legions! We're going to be in real trouble if things get volatile in the north.

Legions: Rise of Rome

The first orders have been issued.

LordZell, you need to finish your origins before I can issue you your mission.

Posts can be written in any style you guys want - be it from the general's perspective, or a neutral perspective (as if reading a history book!), or from the perspective of the front line soldiers. Or a mixture of the three. It's up to you guys, really, I have no preference.

There will now be a 24 hour grace period for existing/new players to get up/finish their legion sheets.

EDIT: Your missions can be resolved in as many posts as you want. Just bear in mind that some players might like to drag theirs out, and if there isn't a two thirds majority who have finished, then you may find yourself waiting for some time for your next mission if you finished the previous one in say one post.

Legions: Rise of Rome

Legions: Rise of Rome

Chapter One: Turbulent Times, 219 BC

The Republic of Rome stands on the knife’s edge. If she falls one way, then she will become the greatest power the world has ever seen. If she falls the other, then, well… she’ll be consigned to the histories along with the other corpses of broken nations.

In the west, Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barc - a Carthaginian general - has launched an assault on the buffer city Saguntum. Rome and Carthage had agreed the city, along with the Iber River, to be neutral zones to keep the two powers separate. However, Hannibal’s siege and subsequent capture of the city has broken the treaty, and now the world’s two super powers and preparing for a second war.

To make things worse, Hannibal’s brother, Hasdrubal, has landed in western Sicily with a force of ten thousand men, and has captured the city of Lilybaeum. The Roman governor there gave up without a fight, and now the Carthaginian army is marching towards their allies in Syracuse. Without reinforcements, Rome will soon lose the main supplier of her grain, as well as her pride.

In the east, the divided Greek City States are marshalling their armies. They sense a weakness in Rome; one forged from her impending confrontation with Carthage. However, as mentioned, they are divided amongst themselves, and their weak military alliances are a liability. Perhaps Rome and her glorious legions, under the guidance of Mars, should put them all to the sword? – before the situation has time to manifest into a serious threat.

Meanwhile, Demetrius, the King of Illyria, is preparing his army for a campaign against Rome’s foothold on his country. Bitter from the defeats he and his people have suffered, he seeks revenge, and it is anticipated that he will launch an offensive if he is not deterred.

And the north, what of the north? The Gallic tribes not only speak openly of joining the Carthaginians in the war against Rome, but also of their own designs to invade the fledgling Republic. When the ravaging barbarian hordes charge down into the Roman heartland, who will stand to stop them?

Now is the time for greatness, for honour and glory. Arise, sons of Rome, and fight to the last man! Fail not the Republic in its hour of greatest need. Do your duty, serve your country, and immortalise yourselves in the tomes of history forever!

The Rise of Rome is at hand!

---

Orders from the Senate, Ianuarius 219 BC

Aelius Horatius Servius

Beloved brother of Rome,

I hope you are well; I know your Uncle, he is a good friend of mine, and he speaks well of you.

It is for this reason that I ask you take Legio V Almeria to Sicily and prevent the Carthaginian army from reaching Syracuse. Hasdrubal, your adversary, has a force of ten thousand heavy infantry at his disposal – but no serious cavalry elements. Though numbers are against you, if you have the sound mind your uncle professes, then you will be more than able to show this piss-pot that Rome will not lie down like a whore.

I am told that he is preparing to march from Lilybaeum any day now, and it will not take him long to traverse the island. So go, go with all haste, and fail me not.

Myself and the Senate are watching for the signs of your greatness,

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Optional further Reading on the Carthaginian Army

Titus Pomponius Philo

My dear Pomponius!

Mourn with me, brother, for Publius Fulvius Lupus was one of my greatest friends. His loss is a heavy blow for Rome, for few men were like he; forged from the hardest iron, and tempered by the fires of war, he was one of the country’s greats.

Alas, now he is gone, but who will fill his place? I have heard good things of you, Pomponius. I think it quite possible that Fulvius saw something great in you, and I am inclined to trust in his judgement.

We have a situation in Sicily, as you may have heard. The Carthaginians are marching from Lilybaeum, having taken the city in a lighting assault without shedding blood. Clever bastards, no? I have ordered Legio V Almeria to intercept them, but this is not why I ask for your sword in this matter.

Syracuse is on the verge of betraying us. Those filthy Greek scum. After all we have given them, they are still snivelling whores ready to bend before the first man to bat an eye at them. It is they that the Carthaginians seek to unite with, and should they succeed, the Sicily will be lost to us.

With this in mind, the Senate has seen fit to end Syracuse’s independence. Go to the city, and take it by force. We cannot afford a lengthy siege, as even now, the Carthaginians are seeking to land more men and supplies on the island. The city has 4,000 strong garrison. It will be a difficult task in breaching the city's walls, but once you're inside, your men should make quick work of them.

Deal with Syracuse, put the traitors to sword if you have to; do what it takes, but I need your men ready to join in the recapturing of Lilybaeum as soon as possible.

Go with the will of all good men, and forget not Fulvius in this endeavour; he was a sound commander when it came to a siege, and no doubt he had much to show you on the subject.

You have my love,

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Optional further reading.

Marcus Cornelius Imperiosus

Hail, Cornelius.

I have heard heartening tales from your time in Illyria, and I would have those tales greatly expanded upon.

We are at war in every direction, Cornelius, and there is much need for Roman courage in defeating our enemies. There is a reason the Senate has seen fit to leave you in Illyria for all these years, following your victory at Apollonia. You know the land, and you know who occupies it better than even myself.

The Illyrian King, the one you know as Demetrius, is amassing before you, brother. You may have held the coast of Illryia for a decade, but I fear you will not hold it for much longer – 30,000 of the Illyrians have marshalled themselves north of you. Of this, you are no doubt already aware, and are perhaps in a better position to assess their force disposition. However, from what I have learned, they seem to be relying heavily on an assortment of light infantry and horse.

Hold the city, brother, and do not yield it to the Illyrians. If we lose Appollonia, then we’ll lose Epidamnos and Corcyra as well. We need to break Demetrius here, before he can become more of a threat.

I am dispatching my legions to assist you; the 1st and 2nd will land in Illryia after they have refitted – six months, give or take a few days by my reckoning.

Until then, you are to hold Appollonia, and if able, to end the threat the Illyrian king poses to Rome.

May Mars watch over you, brother, and do not give in to fear; stay strong behind the city’s defences, and break the Illyrians before them.

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Optional further reading.

Varren Aelius Timore

Brother of Rome,

The defeat of Legio XIII Sparta at the hand of Greek rebels is a stain upon the honour of Rome, and I would see It washed away under the blood of our enemies!

Your predecessor was a weak man; foolish and useless. He died an idiot’s death, and I am not sorry for it.

You however, demonstrated your mettle on the bloodied fields of Greece. You were unable to save the expedition, though I do not hold this against you. The situation you inherited was untenable, and without reinforcements, even I myself would have been forced to retreat back to Italy.

Still, as I have said, this stain cannot go uncleansed. Gather your legion, Aelius, and go to Sparta. Smash those bastard Greeks once and for all, and tear their city to the ground. If the City States want to unite against us, and refuse our power, then that is fine; we will refuse them life.

My scouts report the Spartan garrison to be no more than 6,000 strong; they are fearsome hoplites, this is certain, but they are stupid. They have not adapted to modern warfare, and have no horsemen. I trust in your ability to lure them into a pitched battle, to fix their centre, and to flank them with horse.

Claim victory, Aelius, or do not return to Rome.

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Augustus Revlio

Legatus Augustus, I have not had the pleasure,

However, my friends in the Senate assure me you are a man of both wealth and worth, but time will tell, no?

We have a pressing issue in the north of Italy, with the city of Velathri calling for our assistance against the Gallic tribes of Gallia Cisalpina. It would appear that the local chieftains of these savages have grown bold, owing to our impending collision with Carthage, and are seeking to make good our current weakness.

Persuade them otherwise, would you? March your legion north, and drive the Gauls out of Liguria, by taking the settlement of Genua by force. We cannot afford diplomacy at this time, and so I urge you to use the full might of your warriors in the utter destruction of the parts of Genua's population that will not submit to your occupation. Give no quarter to neither man, woman or child should they not bow to kiss your feet. That will hopefully send a message to the rest of the Gallic tribes, that Rome is never to be trifled with - especially when she is threatened.

A chieftain, by the name of Eumann Mawr, has assembled himself a force of 6,000 naked mad men, armed with spear and sword. What they have in muscle and stature, they obviously lack in intelligence. They should be easily slain by your legion - but do not give in to overconfidence. Many a battle has been lost that way.

Engage this force, destroy it or drive it out of Liguria, and capture the town of Genua.

Do this, and the Senate will remember not to question your battlefield capabilities.

You have my eager eyes,

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Optional further reading on Gallic warfare

Quintus “Sulpicius” Cursor

Well met, Sulpicius,

The availability of your renowned legion of mad dogs - no offense intended - could not have come at a better time. Rome is in grave peril, as I am sure you're aware. From the north, the Gauls are looking to come down on us. To the east, the Illyrians have assembled themselves the biggest army they have had in over a decade, and are preparing to use it to push us from Apollonia. In Sicily, Carthage has landed with ten thousand men, and if we do not defeat them, then the island will be lost.

All across our borders, we are fighting reactively. It is our enemies who decide where and when our legions are deployed, and as an experienced commander, let me tell you - no man can win a war if his enemy is picking the fights.

With this in mind, I want you to take Legion VIII: Spurii Romanae to Sardinia, and drive the Carthaginian contingent there into the sea. My agents tell me that the chief settlement there, Karalis, holds a sizeable chunk of the Carthaginian army. We estimate this force stands between four and eight thousand strong.

Though do not fret, Legatus. The Carthaginians know nothing of your coming, and so unless this correspondence has been intercepted by foreign spies, then your legion should be able to land with complete surprise. I have gone to great lengths to conceal any effort on Rome's part to take the war to Carthage.

Furthermore, we understand the soldiers to be Iberian mercenaries. Cowards, dressed in light bronze and with small swords. They will not stand against you on the open field, but be wary - we also know there to be a significant amount of archer-borne troops in their ranks. Running at the walls in daylight may be a costly commitment.

I can think of no better legion to give this task to. Infiltrate the city, and kill every one of the Punic weasels. Failing that, lure them out into the open, and do the same. Your achievements are rich, and I know them well. You will think of something, I am sure.

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Servius Ennius Livianus

Ennius, Ennius, Ennius - such a familiar name - and I am sure that over the years, I have served with a number of your kin.

And now I serve with you.

Carthage is quite possibly days away from pushing us from Sicily, Legatus. Such a defeat will spell disaster for Rome, and will offer Hannibal and his cronies a pathway to our heartlands. This must not be allowed.

Whilst Legio V Almeria and Legio Sexta Ferrata bleed themselves before the walls of Syracuse against Hannibal's brother, I would have you sail westward, around the island to land upon the Carthaginian flank at Lilybaeum. The city is virtually defenceless, save for 2,000 or so varying mercenaries of no particular significance. Securing it will deny a Carthaginian retreat in the event of Legio V Almeria's and Legio Sexta Ferrata's victory. It will also buy us vital time, should the two legions at Syracuse fail.

Do not delay in this endeavour, Ennius. You are known to be a sound and modest man, of good deeds and success - but you have little significance in the eyes of my peers in the Senate. Secure Lilybaeum, and hold it. This will garner you the kind of favour we all desire.

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Lanius Inculta

Lanius Inculta,

The availability of your legion is a heartening notion to my old bones, and I am glad you are at my service.

There are those in the Senate who speak of 'The Standard', a nick-name by which you are fondly called amongst the benches of the forum. They say good things, though I am sad to say I have never had the pleasure of hearing of your exploits.

They tell me, indeed, that you have ventured as far as Gaul? Oh, how we have tussled with those savages over the centuries, and for what? We take a town there, lose a city here, enslave a tribe yonder, lose our women from behind as we're busy pillaging Gallic livestock. The War in the North is a bitter struggle, and one that has not yielded results despite the Roman blood we have thrown at the region.

Today, I would have that changed. Today, I would have us finally batter down the gateway to Gaul for good, so that Rome may surge into the world beyond, and bring it to heel.

Take your legion to Patavium, and snatch the town from the savages. Too long have we allowed those hairy arsed barbarians to camp on our borders with impunity, well, to that I say: No longer!

King Eideard Tulach of the Veneti stands against you. He has ten thousand of his war band zealots under his command, but they are lightly armoured and rely far too much on their feet than they do on their horses.

Either siege him out of his home, or draw him into a pitched battle; he is foolish, I am told, and his friends in Liguria are otherwise engaged, so he stands alone.

Bring me his head, and tear down his city, Lagatus... and do not fail me.

Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus

Legions: Rise of Rome

thorgili said
Decided to do the legendary (albeit at this time historically inaccurate but most of us are a few decades late since these legions where raised until around 50 and 40 BC) Lost Legion Hispania.

Accepted and added!

Lovely sheet, very nice indeed.

Though in answer to your comment, you are correct. In fact, Legions weren't even recorded - I don't think - as permanent bodies until the Marian reforms. However, I can't expect people to go and learn the epic and complex saga that is the Roman Republic's military evolution, so I think our current mixture of pre and post Marian reforms style Legions will work fine. I certainly am not offended by any historical inaccuracies, because I've said from the start that this RP will be light on the history. That is to say, it is "loosely" based on the events of the time, so that things can remain simple and accessible to all.

Rome isn't currently holding land in Illyria, as far as the RP is concerned, however this is no problem. I will have it, so long as you agree, that your Legion and its supporting forces are occupying the slim areas of coastline historically held by the Republic during this time period. The ports of Epidamnos, Apollonia and Corcyra, I believe they were in ownership of, but the land beyond is held by otherwise hostile savages in need of taming. This way, I haven't got to start slicing the map up further.

But anyway, nice work and welcome aboard!

PhoenixWhite said
Ooooh, I'd like to at least read along- if not join in myself. Either will be fine, but this is a simple enough one for me to wrap my head around xDI will admit to being new to nation roleplays however, so that is certainly a thing. Fan of Rome though- but definitely not a history teacher!

You will be fine, one would need to be totally stupid to mess up their participation in this NRP.

If you feel you would be able to narrate a battlefield, with your legion being pitched against an enemy, then that's good enough by all accounts.

It's up to you entirely, however, if you want to join or not.

viktor said
I'll submit a CS tonight.

Sounds good to me.

AmongHeroes said
It's great to see so much interest. This should be a fun RP. Great work, LancerDancer.

Many thanks. I am excited about getting this under way - which will be soon.

RomanAria said
Mei dei! So many other people! Will get started on my sheet ASAP.

I look forward to seeing your finished product.

---

The RP will be starting shortly, either today or tomorrow depending on my free time.

However, I will make it known now that I will most likely be unavailable from Wednesday to Saturday, as my employer is sending me off to Scotland to look into a few things. Depending on how much time I get in my hotel, I might not be able to post. This should not be a problem, as my early role is confined to giving out the orders, and allowing the players to carry them out. However, in case a dispute comes up, or people need direction and guidance, then I would ask for a temporary co-GM to stand in for me during those few days.

Their authority would be limited to keeping things moving, should they grind to a halt for whatever reason. That person would need to be sensible, and preferably have some experience in GMing.

If no one volunteers, then unfortunately you'll need to wait until I return, which should be Saturday evening.

---

Once I put up the first IC post, there will be a 24 hour grace period for new and existing players to finish their legion sheets, but after that time, the RP will be considered closed until the next game turn. This is to say, the RP will only accept new players when a new turn begins (to prevent late joiners from delaying the end turn process).

Players who complete their sheets during the 24 hour grace period, will have their orders added to the existing first post.

---

If anyone has any questions, now would be a good time to ask them.

Legions: Rise of Rome

thorgili said
any room for more?

Sure.