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| Macedonian Phalanx |
333 BC Early Summer. Alexander the Great is still at Issus. Visting his wounded at the field hospital there he quickly realises his light infantry have been mauled in the battle. They might have been useful, as he now needs to march west again to finish off the Persian garrison in Tarsus. The Persians still control the Eastern Mediterranean and are using the port at Tarsus. It needs to be closed to them.
Note: I forgot to deduct 1 Gold last turn for Harpalus' ongoing embezzlement from the Macedonian treasury. It now stands at 30.
The current Macedonian plan is to march west, capture Tarsus and then return east, moving down into Syria and the Lebanon.
Alexander's diplomats fan out ahead of him, armed with Persian gold. In Tarsus the garrison commander has increased the size of the fortifications there, which is not good news. Persian raiders are still threatening the Macedonian baggage train, requiring the detachment of some mercenaries to chase them off (-2G/28).
The Macedonian army marches west to Tarsus (-6G/22). Tarsus has some very formidable defences now, so Alexander decides he is going to try to intimidate the garrison into surrendering, on the back of his victory at Issus. He offers safe conduct out of the city. The Persian commander accepts this, packs his bags, and sails away, no doubt with a gift of bullion from the Macedonians.
Tarsus is handed over to Alexander, for +3 Glory and more booty! Another Macedonian governor is installed at Tarsus.
Now Alexander turns east again, returning to Issus (-2 Gold/20), then on to Biblos in Syria. In northern Syria the army takes some losses from night attacks from Persian raiders. Most of this is felt among the mercenary infantry tasked with protecting the baggage train and the siege weapons.
The Macedonian army appears before the walls of Sidon (-6 Gold /14) without further attacks. Following his success at Tarsus, Alexander decides to try to negotiate with the citizens of Sidon, who are mainly Phoenicians with little Persian military presence. This is the last big city on the coast before Tyre, which lies further south on the way to Palestine.
One look at Alexander's siege weapons and Sidon capitulates without a fight. The Mediterranean is almost closed to the Persian fleet. But Tyre lies to the south, unconquered. That is going to be a tougher nut to crack.
Alexander picks up 3 Glory for taking Sidon, plus 4 Gold in terms of loot, plus 44 Gold in terms of tribute from the rest of the empire. He takes the opportunity to beef up his light troops, raising two regiments of archers in Sidon (-4 gold).
He decides to recruit Aristander to manage his logistics (-6 Glory) and also spends 3 Glory training his officer corps while resting up in Sidon - call it an informal general staff college.
End of turn
- Gold: 58
- Glory: 6
- Re-rolls: 1
- Victory Points: 35 (total = 60)
For the curious, the COVID-19 Lockdown Alexander campaign is being played using Field Commander Alexander from Dan Verssen Games.
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