(My knowledge of Roman history is very limited.. forgive me and correct me if I say something wrong )
I won't tell you about the less important details like "I placed requisition in..." or "I recruited archers in...". If you want me to be more detailed tell me but I feel that isn't necessary.
The first scenario will be the first in the BOR timeline, the Third Samnite War where Rome is fighting against the Samnites and Etruscans at first and the Umbrians and Senones later. Let's take a look at the map, shall we?
298 BC
- two Samnite armies but one is very small and I will propably have to include it into the bigger stack for actual combat, the leader of the large Samnite army is very good with a 5-3-3 rating and several good traits!
- one Etruscan army that is locked until attacked and propably won't be able to hold its position against a determined Roman attack (also it has a terrible leader)
- the Etruscans also bring with them a small but effective navy, they can easily defeat the tiny Roman navy which means I can blockade any Roman province with a port when it is needed
- Umbrians have a small and not very powerful army but every man I can bring against the Romans is useful. Right now they are locked, though and it will take some turns until I can unlock them
- The Senones also have a small army but I would really like to have their Pedites... I don't know what the conditions for unlocking them are so let's just see!
The Romans and their allies have 4 legions and can call 2 additional legions with a dictator when I am near Rome, they can recruit Socii legions - as time progresses, they will be able to recruit more - and they have some supporting troops. The legions are the ones I have to watch out for as I have few chances to defeat them in open combat unless I have a huge numerical superiority.
The Romans are also allied with the Lucanians (in the province Velia)
The Greeks don't like the Romans but they are not willing to fight either so they will propably be neutral in this scenario.
Turn 1: 298 BC, May
The small Samnite army moves to besiege Luceria which is an objective province. The main Samnite army will besiege Velia to put the Lucanians and their small army out of the war. The Etruscan navy will blockade their port. I hope the Romans will concentrate on the Etruscans first - their army is useless unless attacked as it is locked indefinitely! I am setting the Etruscan army to defend at all cost..
Turn2: 298 BC, June
No combat happened, the Romans are besieging the Etruscans town of Volsinii which has no port and won't hold out long. The Lucanian army moved out of Velia but I don't want to assault Velia yet because I am scared the Romans will counter-attack my weakened army after the assault. I am ordering the smaller Samnite army besieging Luceria to assault, I want it merged with the bigger one as soon as possible.
Turn 3: 298 BC, July
The assault on Luceria failed miserably with 2000 losses vs 600 losses, but luckily I had no element losses so let's just pretend it never happened. Onwards with the siege!
A small naval encounter between the 10-squadron Roman navy and my 20-squadron Etruscan navy ended obviously victorious for me but the Romans quickly retreated leaving the losses very minor at 307 Romans vs 187 Etruscans.
The most important battle of this turn was the Roman attack on the now unlocked Etruscan army. In several smaller battles, both sides lost 1 element. But the losses favour the Etruscans which only lost ~5000 men while the Romans lost more than 7000 men! Since neither side was pushed out of the province, 10000 Romans now stand against 30000 Etruscans! But I am unable to counter-attack because the crappy leader is unactivated this turn. Thanks a lot!
In other news, a newly recruited Etruscan archer joined the Etruscan army.
Turn 4: 298 BC, August
Another Etruscan victory! The Romans lost a Hastati element and I gained 1 National Morale. But my leader is still unactivated... I hope they won't reinforce this army or move away before I am able to counterattack!
The Samnites are still besieging and a newly recruited Samnite infantry unit joins the smaller army. Now it should be strong enough to hold out against counterattacks of a single legion - and since 3 Roman legions are committed against the Etruscans I should be relatively safe.
Turn 5: 298 BC, September
Yet another Etruscan victory, the Romans lost a Rorarii element and I gained another 1 NM. More good news, the garrison of Luceria surrendered! And even more good news, the Etruscan leader is finally activated! Time to launch an all-out counterattack. I want to destroy as many legion elements as possible even if a lot of Etruscans will propably have to die for this cause... but it's not all good news, a Roman legion moved into Bovianum - my most important objective province. I have to counterattack immediately before the garrison surrenders. The Samnite main army will assault Velia and then immediately merge with the smaller one in Luceria. I feel bad leaving Velia undefended after I just wasted so much time taking it but I have no other choice.
My navy is low on cohesion and I will move it back to port.
Turn 6: 298 BC. October
The damn Romans retreated before battling the Etruscans, damn it! The Etruscan navy, very low on cohesion, was attacked by the Roman navy but luckily it was still able to destroy one Roman squadron before retreating. I lost one squadron during the retreat, but that doesn't change the fact that I have naval supremacy! The navy retreated into newly taken Velia.
I am very short on money so the naval replacements have to wait. Both the Samnites and Etruscans desperately need replacements.
Next turn I want to switch to the attack with the Etruscans. There are two completely undefended Roman cities next to the Etruscan capital Volaterrae which would be a nice defensive line making it a bit harder for the Romans to just besiege the Etruscan capitel. So I want to take these two next turn. The Samnites have to drive the Romans out of their capital province. A newly recruited cavalry unit will reinforce the - now single - Samnite army for the attack next turn. After that my actions will depend on the weather conditions - after all will soon be Winter!
Turn 7: 298 BC, November
Well, turns out the Romans redecided they did actually not want to take my capital. So they just moved back into Rome - definitely fine with me.
The Etruscan army splits up to take both Populonia and Clusium. The Samnite army which was just merged splits up again as well: the 1-star leader Staius Minacius will move against Hatria, a small Roman allied settlement between Sena Gallica and Bovianum - not allied to Rome on the first turn thus not present on the map. Strategically it would make a lot more sense to take Capua and Spoletium but this would threaten the Romans and allow them to call a Dictator. I need to prevent that at all cost!
The Etruscan navy will blockade the port of Neapolis to help with the siege.
To hold Velia I am moving a cavalry unit into the province.. not exactly ideal for defense but I can't spare one of the way more powerful Samnite infantry units! And I need a garrison in Valie to gain 2 victory points per turn.
Turn 8: 298 BC, December
Poor Etruscans! Both assaults on the Roman provinces stalled and would need one more turn to complete. But there's trouble approaching: practically the entire Roman army, 4 legions supported by the Lucanian hoplites and pedites are attacking them! The Romans will need a few more days to reach Populonia so the Etruscans will have to run towards their capital... the other half of the Etruscan army in Clusium will assault the garrison here again but then also retreat to Volaterrae. Of course even the combined Etruscan army will have no chances against four legions...
On the other hand it means the Samnites have nothing to fear now. Not that it really changes anything: they can't assault Naples because the fort level is too high and the army besieging Hatria is too small to assault it. I hope that I am able to take Naples before the Romans return, a level 2 fort with a port would be perfect to defend.
So that was 298 BC. Not a bad year at all! I took Luceria and Velia and didn't lose a single province. Next year will hopefully see some decisive battles and I will have to decide whether I want to move closer towards Rome and allow them to call a dictator or defend the provinces I already have until the Romans are weakened enough. Next year might also see the entry of the Umbrians into the war.
Victory Points: Samnites 50 : 81 Romans
Men lost: Samnites 16590 : 24600 Romans
National Morale: Samnites 110 : 91 Romans