The Peloponnesian Wars

The Peloponnesian Wars
Game	Empire Earth
Campaign	Greek Campaign
Preceding Scenario	The Rise of Athens
Following Scenario	Young Alexander
Civilizations	Athens (Bronze Age) Sparta (Bronze Age) Taras (Bronze Age) Rhegium (Bronze Age) Segesta (Bronze Age) Corinth (Bronze Age)
Heroes	Pericles

Description

The Peloponnesian Wars is the fifth scenario of the Greek Campaign in Empire Earth.

Briefing

The Peloponnesian Wars: 427 - 404 BC

Pericles narrowed his eyes in the glare of the afternoon sun, taking note of the hard-set jaw of the Spartan King who faced him.

The survival of Athens depended on bringing in food from the west. But negotiations with Sparta regarding land routes had failed, and war was now inevitable.

The Athenian army could never hope to beat the Spartans in the open field, and so it was that Pericles gave the order to bring the citizens north of Athens safely within the city walls. There they would hold out against the impending siege for as long as was necessary.

And, somehow, Pericles swore he would find a way to lead Athens to victory.

History

After Persia was defeated in 479 BC, Sparta and Athens stood preeminent among the Greek city-states. In a short time, the ancient rivalry between them had flared up again.

Sparta was supported by conservative Greek cities that favored a traditional, aristocratic form of government. Athens, on the other hand forged an alliance of cities that were experimenting with democratic reforms - or who, as island cities, were dependent on the protection of the Athenian navy. And increasingly, Athens came to see herself as the moral leader of all the Greeks, chosen by the gods to teach the others the wisdom of democracy and the arts. When Athens seized the treasury her allies had built up to provide for their mutual defense against Persia, the imperial ambitions of the great city of Theseus finally became clear to all.

But Athens had a weakness. The city-state had never been able to feed her booming population from local farms because the thin soil in the Attica region was simply inhospitable to agriculture. So to provide for the security of the city, a reliable source of grain from overseas had to be found - and that source finally turned out to be Italy.

When Sparta and her conservative allies conspired to keep Athens from bringing food shipments across the Isthmus of Corinth, Athens placed an embargo on the strategically located city of Megara, demanding that trade routes be opened. At the same time, Athens took steps to crush uprisings against her authority in Chalcidice and Aegina. Sparta retaliated by declaring war, branding Athens an aggressor who did not respect the independence of Greek cities.

And so it was that the Peloponnesian Wars began - a devastating period lasting 27 years that left thousands of Greeks dead, and exhausted the resources of both the victor and the defeated.

Objectives

• Bring Pericles along with at least 9 Citizens safely within the Walls of Athens. You will not be able to create new Citizens during the siege, so protect the ones you have.
• Bring Pericles up to the Parthenon where he will share his plan with the Citizens of Athens. When he does, the Gate into the city will be locked, so be sure everyone is inside!
• There are two towns in Magna Graecia that will give you grain: Taras and Rhegium. Send Diplomats, on board their ships, to each town's Dock to receive the shipments, then escort the shipments back to Athens. Each shipment contains 2500 units of Food.
• Bring your Diplomat to the Dock at Athens and he will automatically get on a diplomatic ship.
• Segesta would like to become your ally. If you can get a Diplomat to their Dock, you will be able to mine the Gold and Iron found there.
• Make ready your army! You must drive all of the Spartan forces out of Corinth to secure your final victory. Transport Ships are now available, should you wish to bolster defenses at places such as Segesta.

Only the first objective is visible at the start of the game. The rest are shown as you go through the scenario.

Losing Conditions

• You lose three grain shipments.
• Pericles does not survive.
• You are unable to save nine Citizens at the beginning of the scenario.

Hints

• Move quickly to get your Citizens into the city - Sparta will attack almost at once.
• Use your Gold carefully as more will be hard to come by. Don't forget that you need Gold to produce Diplomats as well as warships.
• It is very important to safeguard your grain shipments. They are the only source of Food, which you must stockpile in order to win.
• The two Wonders available to you can be extremely helpful. The Pharos Lighthouse provides you visibility into the sea to help you watch for incoming invaders. The Temple of Zeus allows your troops to slowly heal themselves.
• If you choose to ally with Segesta, after a while they will be attacked by allies of Sparta. You can hold them off for a while with the Short Sword soldiers near Segesta until your other soldiers arrive.
• Every dock you send a Diplomat to will immediately come under your control, allowing you to build and heal boats. This could used as a strategical advantage against the Spartan Navy.

Walkthrough

Attention: Do not read this if you wish to solve the scenario on your own.

Surviving the Siege

Pause the game just as soon as it starts (hotkey for pause is F3). Select all your Citizens near the Granary and Houses and have them chop Wood within the city. Unpause the game. Send Pericles and all the soldiers outside the city within. Bear in mind that the Gates of the city will be locked exactly one game minute after Pericles enters the city, quite possibly leaving some of your Citizens out (hotkey for knowing game time is F11, allowing you to see game time on the top right of the screen). Once everyone is in and accounted for, send Pericles to the Parthenon where he will divulge his plans for withstanding the siege.

When he has, you will be given 1000 Food and Stone, 2000 Wood and 1500 Gold and Iron resources. Use them to build a Battleship, a Frigate and a Galley each for your two Docks. Also train two Diplomats and have them rallied on top of a Dock. Once a Diplomat has entered the Dock his diplomatic ship will appear. Upgrade the speed and send a diplomatic ship each to the Docks of Taras and Rhegium. Do not worry about them being attacked by the Spartan Navy as they should be able to outrun all of their boats, but Spartan Frigates are likely just fast enough to tail on these Diplomatic vessels to attack the Dock of their destination. While your diplomatic ships are en route, use your navy to attack the Spartan ships. Be warned, around three game minutes after you generate the first diplomatic ship Athens will be struck by Plague. Deal with this by bringing the afflicted units within Hospital range (be sure to buy its available upgrade) and keeping the rest of your units away from them. The Plague will continue to recur for as long as the Food quota is below ten thousand units.

As for your navy strategy, send the two Battleships you built first to Dock of Taras. Right-clicking near, not on, the Dock of Taras while holding down the Control key on your keyboard will send your ships to that location and engage and destroy any enemy units they meet on the way there. Do the same thing for your Galleys and your Frigates. Once they are all there, send them in the same way to Rhegium, and from Rhegium to Segesta, and from Segesta straight back to Athens. After you have made the first six warships, build two more Battleships at Athens and have them stationed a little beyond the range of the Docks to deal with enemy warships that will follow your grain shipments.

As soon as your Diplomat reaches Taras's Dock three grain transports will immediately appear. Send them straight away back to your own Dock in Athens. They're small but fast, so don't allow them to stop. Note: if you lose more than two ships you will have lost the game. If all grain shipments make it to Athens you get five Civilization Points. Build two more Battleships at Taras's Dock and use them in the fight against the Spartans. Once all the grain ships have made it safely back to Athens you would have survived the siege and be able to focus the fight on the Spartan army. Athens' Gate will now be able to open.

During this time Segesta will wish join you. Send a diplomat there as you did for Taras and Rhegium. Once your diplomat enters their dock all the Buildings and the Citizens there will come under your command. There will also be a group of Short Sword soldiers there. Note: if you trained the Diplomat before Segesta calls for an alliance this group of soldiers will not be there.

Destroying the Spartans

First off, know no that eight game minutes after Segesta allies with you the allies of Sparta, Sycaruse, will attack Segesta with around fifteen to twenty Phalanx soldiers. Have two of your Citizens build a Barracks near the Hospital in Segesta, and have the rest mine the ore there (mainly the Gold). Once the Barrack is built, send the Citizens to work while you train ten Phalanx. In Athens, train five Archers, station them exactly behind the main gate on stand-ground behaviour and upgrade their range, attack points and pierce to max (in that order). From here they should be able to pick on the Spartan soldiers outside while you handle the fight in Segesta (remember to lock the gate so that nobody can go in or out).

In Segesta, have all your soldiers rally near the ore mines where the Sycaruse soldiers will be most likely to attack from. In the meantime, have the rest of your warships explore the seas in search of enemy warships to sink but send two Battleships to the Dock of Segesta. When Syracuse attacks, have your Citizens flee to the Dock while your soldiers have their standoff within range of the Hospital. If your soldiers are overwhelmed draw the enemy infantry near the two Battleships near the Dock where they will fire upon the enemy Phalanx when they come near. Once you have successfully defended Segesta you will be awarded five Civ Points. Send your Citizens back to work.

Now begins the real battle. Build a Transport at Segesta and use it to bring your remaining infantry to Athens (if there are any). At Athens, train three Archers, three Bronze Cavalry troopers which should have their speed and health upgraded to max, and fill the rest of your Population Capacity with Phalanxes(which should have their shock, attack points and health upgraded to max). Unlock the Gate. Position your Phalanxes halfway out of your Gate on stand ground mode, your Archers right behind them on on-guard behaviour and your Bronze Cavalry right inside the Phalanx also on on-guard behavior. Remember to position Pericles right behind your Archers so that he may heal your troops.

Positioning done, use your Bronze Cavalry to for the "lure and chase" tactic. Send the cavalry out to lure the army outside the Gate group by group to where your main army is. It is preferable to lure in groups of ten or less so that your army can deal with them quickly and with minimal loss. When the army outside the Gate is killed, send your cavalry further on to Corinth where the rest of the Spartans are and repeat the "lure and chase".There will be two War Elephants, ten Bronze Cavalry, three Stone Throwers and around thirty Phalanx. Be careful, if you attract the attention of the Stone Throwers send your entire army within the gates and lock it. Use your archers to take whatever else it outside and use your Bronze Cavalry to take out the siege machines. Once they are destroyed repeat the main positioning and the "lure and chase". Remember to train more units if you sustain losses. Continue this until you exhaust the Spartan Army and you will have won The Peloponnesian Wars.

Alternative Course of Action

Use Elephant Archers as the primary damage dealers against the Spartans; the Spartans use Phalanxes as the bulk of their force, and Elephant Archers can make quick work of this unit whilst tanking massive Piercing-type damage. Training 2-3 in Segesta supplemented with about 5 Phalanx should be enough to repel the Spartan attack, given enough upgrades and ancillary factors.

Do not repel the Spartans besieging Athens until Segesta is safe; after the oversea matters are done, build transport(s) in Segesta to bring any of the surviving combatants to be pooled into Athens. After all combat-able units are within the walls, now is the time to assess the composition of the troops. A suggested arrangement would be:

• 3-5 Elephant Archers, with upgraded Damage and Range; this will be the primary tool to thin out the Spartans' ranks
• Phalanxes, the initial ones + 4 and any that survived Segesta, with upgrades focusing on Pierce Armor and Damage; they should be able to hold off the Spartans from hitting the Archers as long as they can.
• Simple Bowmen, 4-6, with upgrades on range and damage; they can shoot further than the Elephant Archers and are cheaper.
• 4 Shock/Pierce Horse-mounted Cavalry, with upgrades on Speed and Damage; they would be useful when marching towards Corinth, as the Spartans have siege weapons stationed there.
• If any of the Short Swordsmen survived Segesta, upgrade their Speed and Health; they are almost no use for offensive purposes fighting the primarily Phalanx Spartans.
• Pericle; don't be fooled by his appearance, he's still a Strategist Hero with the merits of one. His direct involvement could ascertain victory even with proportionately smaller number of troops.

When attacking the Spartans outside of Athens, send the melee infantry first with Pericles casting War Cry, and the Archers closely behind raining arrows. The Spartans will fall comically fast. During this initial engagement, keep the horse-mounted Cavalry out of the fight.

When Athens' walls are free from prying Spartans, march to Corinth and don't let any unit get too far ahead or behind. Notice that the Spartans in Corinth have more varied units, including War Elephants; and shortly after engagement, realize that they have Splash siege weapon ready. Do the same as last time; Cast war Cry and don't spread out, have the infantry engage defensively whilst the Archers work a killzone. The horse-mounted units, however, must maneuver across the field to reach the siege weapons and reduce them to splinters. Once they are, the rest should be intuitive.

Trivia

• It is actually possible to thwart the first and second wave of besieging Spartan Phalanxes at the beginning of the scenario using strategic unit maneuvering and Pericles' War Cry:
  • The first wave of Spartans come from the west and try demolishing the Houses of Northern Athens outside the walls; if Pericles and his Phalanxes anticipate their arrival instead of entering the walls, they are very likely to win the engagement with little to no loss, as the number of Phalanxes is the same and the player has a Hero on their side.
  • The second wave come in greater number from the south near the main gate and try to destroy the town outside the walls if it's not already razed; to win against this one, the player might want to let them spread out attacking the Farms and Houses. With their own Phalanxes clutched close together, take out clusters of the attacking Spartans and use War Cry to hasten their fall; though unlike the first wave, the player is very likely to lose a huge portion of their initial Phalanxes.
  • If the player successfully thwarts both waves with at least Pericles himself surviving, a third and even bigger wave carrying Stone Throwers will arrive to fulfill the job instead; this one is nigh impossible to win against early on. While this seems like a punishment for the player's accomplishment, this is actually a chunk of the very same bulk of the Spartan army that has to be fought later on in Corinth if the player proceeded without defeating the first two waves; so while it makes the situation seem more dire, there will be less to fight at the end of the scenario.