A Journey with the Brutii, to the ends of the earth (Rome: Total War)

[Highlander999]

Year: 270 BC (Summer)
Location: Croton

Ave there. My name is Tiberius Brutus and I assume as you are reading this I am long dead and am walking with my ancestors in the next life. I hope my children are strong and my family are doing well. I also hope that I am remembered as a good man who was fair and just in rule.

The year is 270 BC and I suppose I should give a little detail about myself. My name is Tiberius, I am 52, and I am head of the Brutti family. We control two cities in the southern part of Italy. Croton and the capital, Tarentum. I have three sons and I have chosen the youngest, Viberius, to be my heir for when I die. There are 4 main parties in Italy at present. There are the Brutii, the Julli, the Scipii and the Senate. The Senate is made up of the aristocrats elected by the people of Rome to lead us Romans so that one day we may rule the world.

At the moment Rome faces three main threats. The barbarians to the north are kept in check by the Julli. The Carthaginians are in constant battle with the Scippi. To the east, those soft Greeks live, and they are the target for my family. They are such pampered scum, I look forward to watching many a Greek man bleed out on their arid, dry soil.


(Few hours later)

Well, well. I received word from a messenger today who had come from Rome itself. He handed me this scroll:

It seems the Senate have finally made their mind up and given me the orders I so wanted to hear. We set sail for mainland Greece and our first target is the rebel settlement of Apollonia. We have 5 years to take it which shouldn't be too difficult and I look forward to a healthy monetary reward from the Senate once it is in Roman hands.

Currently my oldest son, Aulus is in Tarentum with 40 of his bodyguard looking after the day to day running of the city. Meanwhile my middle son Amulius is in the region with 480 soldiers and my youngest, Vibius, is also there with 426 men. I think I will send them both to Apollonia, but I will have Vibius lay seige to Apollonia, whilst Amulius explores north. They will be in good hands with the sea crossing. I have known Admiral Marcus for a long time and he is an experienced seaman. He will get them there safely.

I best put my quill down now and get back to the admin duties that are required of a faction leader *sigh* My secretary, Julius, seems to pull papers out of his arse which require my constant seeing too, and whilst we have 5,000 denarii in the coffers, it will quickly drip away with 2 big cities to run. Hopefully I will be writing soon with good news, but when that will next be, who knows...?

 

[ARay]

Loved the game. The politics in the game became annoying after a point though. I know its a part of the game, but it became quite frustrating later on in the game. (maybe its just me though)
Looking forward to this story!

 

[Highlander999]

Year: 270 BC (Winter)
Location: Croton

Oh how the God's have blessed me these past months. My beautiful daughter Paulina has finally found true love and a few days ago she married Quintus Vergilius. The man is a true Roman in my eyes. A strong face, and a fierce reputation as a leader of men, he is most welcome in my family. Not only does he have a strong reputation, he also knows how to rule justly, and I am sure that he will be a credit to my family, not only on the battlefield but also administrating a town. For the moment, I have sent him to join Vibius and his army, so that he can get to know his brother-in-law better and assist him in Greece.

Watching Paulina marrying Quintus, was very hard for me. She looked radiant, a gift from the God's themselves and when she walked away, hand in hand with Quintus, my heart did pang slightly watching my little girl finally become a woman. Hopefully they will have many children and have many years of happiness together. Good times indeed.



Year: 269 BC (Summer)
Location: Croton

It's been a busy few months recently here at the heel of Italy. In both Croton and Tarentum, trader's have been built. Tarentum has a port already so the trader there will hopefully attract merchants and bring in some more money for the family. I would like a port to be constructed at Croton in the future which would allow the city to expand, but for the moment Croton will just have to deal with land trade to Tarentum and cities north of it. Soon though, we will expand....

Over in Greece, Vibius and Quintus have arrived and have laid siege to Apollonia. We have plenty of men there and I expect to hear good news about that siege any day now. Meanwhile, Amulius and 480 of his men have explored north into Dalmatia and are looking for rebel settlements to pacify. The Greeks have spies everywhere and will know we are here, but for the time, they are content to sit in their cities and let us gain a foothold on the peninsular. A foolish move.



Year: 269 BC (Winter)
Location: Croton

I have been looking at the finances of the family recently and it is not good. We currently owe 267 denarii to the money lenders as Croton is making a loss when things like construction, army wages and upkeep costs are taken into account. We desperately need some money fast or else we are going to have to start disbanding units soon...

Good news from Greece though as Vibius has assaulted Apollonia with his men. From what I heard it was more of a slaughter then a battle. The ill trained rebels were not much for Roman strength and steel and apparently after softening up one unit of hoplites, with pila, they turned and fled. Vibius then wrote in his report that himself and Quintus led a cavalry charge into the centre of the town and massacered a large group of light skirmishers with only a handful of casualites to the cavalry and not a single loss of life to the infantry units. What a superb victory, my son makes me very proud!

So that is the first Greek city in Roman hands, a good day for our people, the God's smile upon us, that is for sure. Vibius and Quintus have garrisoned Apollonia with 538 of their men, though I have sent a message to Vibius telling him to send some of them north to Amulius as he expands north.

Meanwhile back home, in both Croton and Tarentum I have recruited 240 town watch for both cities to keep public order under control. They are relatively cheap to maintain and should ensure we don't have any civil unrest and the taxes get paid.

(A month later)

Great news indeed, I have just received a message from the Senate, they heard about our successful assault on Apollonia and have ordered chests of 5,000 denarii to be sent here as a reward!!! This is fantastic news as it should help ease our finance problems. It is due any day now, and it will hopefully mean that the port Croton so desperately needs can now be built. Ah, I think I might also send a message to one of the merchants.....probably Marcus Antonio, to bring me back some oils and herbs from when he next goes east to Egypt. Yes, it will be expensive, but with the extra money I might as well enjoy myself and live the life a faction leader should.

I am unsure what to do next with the armies. Amulius is a long way out of reach going into the northern tribes, I hope to hear good news from him in the coming months. I am wary though of expanding south. The Greek city of Thermon lies to the south-east of Apollonia and I imagine that will be a target that the Senate will want me to capture soon. I don't think it will be an easy battle like the one for Apollonia. For starters it is governed properly and not a rebel settlement, and secondly it has walls and plenty of troops garrisoned there. Only the God's know what lies in store for us, I think I will pray to Juno for guidance...

 

[hedger_14]

Wow, excellent start mate. Read all of that and am really interested in this story. I see it is a turn based game, which looks a fair bit like Civilization V which I have been playing recently.

Will be following this closely. Hope you can take over the world