Rome: Total War - Alexander Revealed!

[[K]Yas]

Welcome to the latest edition of the Total War newsletter.

We’re less than a week away from unveiling Medieval 2: Total War to the world’s press at this year’s E3 so, as you can imagine, things are pretty hectic at CA towers right now. To add to the mayhem, we’ve just announced the brand new expansion for our current Total War game: Rome: Total War – Alexander.

The Alexander pack features a brand new campaign game in which players take on the role of the great military leader and are charged with replicating his incredible feats by unifying Greece before conquering the Persian Empire. The pack also includes six new historical battles - mirroring Alexander’s most significant clashes, a brand new multiplayer mode and voiceover by none other than Brian Blessed. Altogether there are four new factions, over 60 new units and more than 30 hours of gameplay.

The pack will be available as a digital download in June from www.sega.com, www.totalwar.com and www.sega-europe.com.

You can take in the press release and lots more information on the pack on our Alexander mini-site at www.totalwar.com. But as this newsletter is all about exclusive information we thought we’d begin by giving you a taster of things to come. As we mentioned, Alexander includes six new historical battles. We’ll be bringing you profiles of each of the new historical battles in newsletters like this and on www.totalwar.com from now up until release. We’re kicking things off today with the first of those battles, Chaeronea.

Chaeronea is the first of six historical battles included in the Alexander pack, each of which unlock sequentially, so you’ll need to crack this particular nut before continuing the fight.. At Chaeronea you’ll take control of a young Alexander, fighting alongside his father King Phillip II against Athenians and Theban forces. Alexander has a vital role to play having been handed the task of neutralizing the feared Theban Sacred Band in order to swing the tide of battle. In addition to the single-player battle, there are 1v1, 2v1 and 2v2 multiplayer options included.

Read on for the full profile of Chaeronea and, once you’ve soaked up the history of the battle, keep your browsers locked on www.totalwar.com. Here you’ll find all the latest on Medieval 2: Total War following our showing at E3 and more on Alexander, plus there are some big, exciting changes immanent on the site to watch out for.

Until next time…

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ROME: TOTAL WAR - ALEXANDER

Historical Battle Profile: Chaeronea

Date and time of battle: August 338BC

Location: Plains of Chaeronea, Central Greece

Armies Involved: Macedonian Army (32,000), Athenians and Thebans (20-35,000)

The Background

By 342 BC, King Philip II had ruled the Kingdom of Macedonia for almost 20 years and in that time had taken it from a backwater state to a powerful military and political entity. Over the same period, the once-mighty Greek City States to the south imploded in a conflict known as the Third Sacred War. King Philip's intervention brought about the end of this war, and left Macedonia as the primary military entity in the Aegean.

The Macedon ruler then looked to expand his borders to the East, to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea coast. This caused consternation in both the powerful Persian Empire, which faced losing control of the Bosphorus straits, and the city state of Athens, which imported food from the area. Persian troops were sent to assist the towns of Byzantium and Perinthus. In the South, Athens and Thebes declared war on Macedon, the latter lured by Persian money and Athenian pressure. Philip was forced to break off his attack.

Philip wanted to the break the back of the best army that Greece could muster in order to prove to the Greeks that they were no match for the Macedonian army, so he deliberately left them a couple of years to prepare for the confrontation. When he finally began moving South in 338BC, the Greeks had prepared an army of almost 40,000 men. Both sides were spoiling for the fight. The Greeks viewed the Macedonians as little better than upstart Barbarians taking advantage of a low-point in Greek military power. The Macedonians were out to prove that they were the new masters of the region.

The battle of Chaeronea would decide Macedonian influence in the Aegean. Were the Greeks to have won then Macedonian dominion over the city states would have been broken, the aura of the Macedonian army would have been shattered and the region would likely have descended into conflict once again. The Macedonian victory that occurred effectively killed any thought among the Greek states that they would break free from Macedonian rule while Philip was its ruler.

The Location

The Greek army deployed on the plains of Chaeronea not far from the town itself. They formed a line blocking progress to Southern Greece, between the mountains to their left and the river to their right. Towards the river the ground was boggy which made progress there difficult.

The Armies

The mainstay of the typical Greek army of the time was the hoplite, an armoured soldier carrying a long spear deployed in an eight-man-deep phalanx unit. Over the course of the fourth century BC the hoplite had gradually become less armoured and more mobile. Nevertheless the flanks of the phalanx line were still vulnerable, and were supported there by faster troops – light javelin men and cavalry.

Over his 20-year reign Philip had made a number of adjustments to this formula. His hoplite soldiers, called phalangists, were more heavily armoured than Greek hoplites of the time, and deployed in a deeper formation with even longer spears. This made the phalangists less mobile than their Greek equivalent but gave them more thrusting power. Philip was confident that his phalangists would beat the Greek hoplites in a straight fight.

To counterbalance the reduced mobility of his infantry Philip also created a large force of heavily armed Companion cavalry. With new tactical formations developed from ideas by Jason of Pherai, Philip's cavalry became an important part of the Macedonian army. These cavalry would be commanded by Philip's son, Alexander, on the field at Chaeronea, with King Philip himself commanding the phalangists on the right flank of the Macedonian army.

The Greek army opposing them comprised almost entirely of hoplite infantry, with a small amount of light supporting troops. Of particular note among the hoplites was the Theban Sacred Band, a legendary corps of 300 men who were famed for their invincibility in battle. The Greeks were lacking in experienced generals with many of their commanders already dead. The presence of the Theban Sacred Band on the battlefield was therefore crucial to Greek morale.

Deployment

Both armies deployed at dawn, the Greeks blocking the pass between the mountains and the river and the Macedonians forming up on the plains opposite them. Philip's phalangists were concentrated more towards the right side of his army by the King, with the left side dominated by light troops and the heavy cavalry. It was here that Phillip positioned his son, the young Alexander, surrounding him with his most experienced commanders. 

The Greek phalanx line was split by principality, with the Athenians on the left wing and the Thebans on the right. The Theban Sacred Band was stationed on the extreme right flank by the river, facing Alexander.

Tactics

King Philip knew that he would only be able to use his heavy cavalry effectively if it could break the Greek battle-line. He attacked the Greek army in a curved formation and feigned retreats, attempting to coax parts of the Greek line forwards to try to develop gaps. Alexander, in charge of the Companion cavalry, would have to exploit these gaps as they arose in order to break the Greek line. His target was the Theban Sacred Band, a figurehead unit for the Greek army. Should the Sacred Band be broken, then the rest of the Greek army would likely follow suit.

Key Moment

Philip did succeed in creating a gap, by having his phalangists feign a retreat. The Athenian hoplites rushed forward in pursuit, creating a gap between them and their Theban allies. Alexander was able to exploit the gap with his cavalry and, using his light troops and heavy horse, surrounded and annihilated the Theban Sacred Band.

An alternative account of the battle claims that the zealous Alexander was the first to break the enemy line, beating a path through the Thebans to create gaps in their line that could be exploited - a turning point which triggered Phillip to halt his feigned retreat and join the charge.

[크라피카]

전략맵이 오리지날수준으로 단순하게 나왔네요. 리얼리즘처럼 빽빽할줄 알았는데...

[Imparial]

나온건가요??

[한교]

이사람들이 돈이 모자르나.. 약간 우려먹는 느낌이넹..아님 리얼리즘처럼 뽀대나게라도 유닛이라도 좀 만들지

[마음대로 냥냥냥]

증말이지 그냥 모드가 더 나은것 같네요..

[ROK_CompanionOfficer]

헤타이로이 생긴것이 리얼리즘하고 너무 닮았다는...ㅡ.ㅡ

[☞메롱이☜]

미디블2 토탈워 때문에 그냥 빨리 해치우자는 식으로 나온듯...

[카이사르씨]

어쩌면 세가사의 농간일지도;;;

[Daum Bark]

이런거는 그냥 배포해줘야 하는 것이 아닌지...

[千網]

바뀐게 뭐에요? 깃발?

[맨발의청춘]

저거..확장인가요?아님모드인가....

[카이사르 마그누스]

저거머지 새로나온 롬토탈?

[-_-^]

깃발만 바뀌 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ