| “ | As Alexander strikes into the Persian Empire, the satraps of Asia Minor march to confront him. | ” |
| —In-game summary | ||
The Battle of the Granicus is the seventh scenario of the Alexander the Great grand campaign in Chronicles: Alexander the Great. It is based on the eponymous battle taking place in May 334 BCE, at the present-day Biga River in Turkey, where Alexander faced a field army of the Persian satraps of Asia Minor, who were supported by Greek mercenaries.
Intro[]
Alexander's destruction of Thebes was near-total. All that he allowed to remain were the temples, the ancient Cadmeia, and the house of the poet Pindar. The rest of the rebellious Greeks immediately surrendered, and Alexander could once again turn his gaze towards Persia.
As was only natural before such a grand expedition, Alexander went to Delphi, seeking the wisdom of the god Apollo. When Alexander arrived, he was told that Apollo's priestess was absent from the temple, this being a day when prophecies were forbidden.
But Alexander, believing that his will surpassed any sacred rules, marched to the priestess's quarters and began to drag her towards the temple, determined that she would tell him his fate. "My son" exclaimed the terrified priestess. "You are unconquerable!"
Satisfied with his boorishly-acquired prophecy, Alexander crossed the Hellespont. Parmenion was waiting with the advance guard, but Alexander had more pressing matters. He proceeded to Troy, where he anointed the gravestone of Achilles with oil. He and his friends ran races around the tomb, as though they were the heroes of Homer's Iliad.
The Persians had time for no such frivolities. They assembled their forces at the River Granicus, trusting in its steep banks and fast-flowing waters to deter Alexander's onslaught.
Alexander gazed at the army arrayed against him: a host more numerous than any he had yet faced, the steeds of the Persian nobles strutting along the serried ranks, their riders eagerly watching for a glimpse of the invader they wished to slay. Upon a single charge across the Granicus, Alexander would stake the fate of his entire expedition.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Classical Age - Starting resources: None, then 150 gold
- Population limit: 100
- Starting units:
- (Before battle)
- 2 Swordsman Captains
- 2 Guardsman Captains
- 2 Bowman Captains
- 1 Skirmisher Captain
- 1 Peltast Captain or Rhomphaia Warrior Captain
- (After battle start)
- Alexander
- 32 Royal Companion Cavalry
- Modified Companion Cavalry with base 100 hit points and 1 range.
Objectives[]
Macedonian morale and Persian morale are shown here.
- Main objectives
- Position all 8 Captains to set up your battle line.
- Macedonian Morale must not be broken.
- Break the Persians' Morale by completing objectives.
- Find additional ways to break Persian Morale.
- Let Alexander deliver his speech.
- Defeat the Greek Mercenaries.
- Determine the fate of the Greek Mercenaries.
- Side objectives
- Arrange your troops to counter the Persian deployment by moving captains forward.
- Keep Alexander alive.
- Fight with Alexander to gain a small amount of additional morale.
- Protect Macedonian Captains.
- Kill Persian Captains to damage enemy morale.
- Find a way to make the Persian Horses stampede.
- Destroy the Persian Banners to damage enemy morale.
- Destroy the Persian Ox Wagons.
- Capture Persian Command Tents to unlock them as training locations.
- Capture Persian Field Hospitals to unlock them as healing locations.
- Kill Persian Priests to damage enemy morale.
- Train additional groups of soldiers for Parmenion at Command Tents on your side of the river.
- Avoid the main battle and focus on completing objectives.
- Defeat the Greeks on one side of the pass.
Groups of fresh reserves remaining shown here.
Hints[]
- You are limited to 100 population and the Classical Age.
- In the deployment phase, observe the arrangement of the Persian army on the opposite bank. Then place an effective counter-unit in that section of the battle line by moving the relevant unit captain. Once the battle begins, your ally will take control of these forces and send them across the river with the rest of the troops.
- Persian morale can be damaged by finishing various quests. Macedonian morale will fall if a Captain is lost.
- Focus on completing objectives behind the Persian line. Getting involved in the main battle is not a good approach.
- Remember to spend your gold to recruit additional reinforcements at Commander Tents throughout the scenario.
- Your Royal Companion Cavalry have extra range with their spears. Use them to charge in and then retreat before taking many casualties.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Macedonians): The Macedonian army is arrayed to the north of the river (made up of shallow water). The player initially controls only the Captains of the various regiments of the army, and must move them around to position their regiments (who follow the Captains) for the charge against the Persian lines. As the Persian regiment positions are randomly generated every playthrough, the player must pay attention and place the Captains appropriately. Once the battle begins by clicking the button on the right side, the player gains control of Alexander and his Royal Companion Cavalry on the west, which must be used to cause havoc behind enemy lines and complete various objectives, rather than fighting in the main battlefield. The player can recruit troops at the Greek Commander Tent.
Allies[]
- Parmenion ( Macedonians): The bulk of the Macedonian army is controlled by Parmenion, and once battle begins, he leads the charge of the main infantry and archer lines to cross the river and engage the enemy. Like the Persian Army at the riverbank, the units of this army are also mostly invulnerable.
- Macedonian Captains ( Macedonians): The player no longer controls the various captains once the battle begins, who are transferred to this player. They fight alongside Macedonian army, but are not invulnerable to damage. Macedonian morale will fall as more of them die.
Enemies[]
- Persian Army ( Achaemenids): The main Persian army is arrayed across the River Granicus and will fight the bulk of the Macedonian army, and will also attack the player if they venture too close. Their troops are nearly invulnerable due to very high regeneration (but can still be killed with high damage output), and should be avoided.
- Persian Army ( Achaemenids): This player represents the Persian troops and buildings not engaged at the battle on the riverbanks. They patrol various paths and guard the many Persian encampments and vital locations, which are of interest to the player, as capturing or destroying various sites influences the ongoing battle. Their units have no regeneration and can be attacked with Alexander's raiding party without an overwhelming disadvantage.
- Persian Captains ( Achaemenids): The primary means of victory is slaying as many Persian Captains as possible. Like the Macedonian Captains, the Persian Captains are identified not only by their different color but also their hero glow. They do not have a high regeneration and should be killed when possible, but by attacking swiftly from behind them and without engaging too many troops of the main Persian Army near them.
- Greek Mercenaries ( Athenians - Greeks): They become the primary target once the main battle at the riverbank is won. They control the various passes of the mountainous ridges south of the river, and the player can choose to clear one pass at every juncture to move forward and reach their final stronghold. The player can finally choose to spare them (gaining the Mercenary Hoplite as a trainable unit in subsequent Macedonian scenarios), or execute them for a gold reward (500 gold in the subsequent scenario, and perhaps other benefits yet to be determined).
Strategy[]
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This scenario is all about troop management, with very little economy to speak of, and is played in two parts. In the first part, the player needs to deploy eight captains of different military units to support Parmenion's Phalangites, and counter Persian units on the opposite riverbank, with their positions randomized every playthrough. After the battle starts, Parmenion will manage troops for the Macedonian side, and the player's contingent of Royal Companion Cavalry plus Alexander, Cleitus, and Perdiccas must sneak around the Persian flank and damage Persian morale by killing opposing captains and completing side objectives. Doing so grants gold, which can be used at the player's Command Tents for additional units, to support either Parmenion or the player. It is not recommended to fight in the main battle, as all enemy units have constant hit point regeneration; rather, the goal is to break the Persians' will to fight before the Macedonians reach this point, as the player's morale decays by losing captains and having Parmenion's forces routed.
With the initial 150 gold, it is recommended to train additional Royal Companion Cavalry to support the player. The various side objectives, which help break the Persian morale, and grant gold when completed, are as follows:
- Killing Persian Captains: 75 gold each
- Capturing Persian Command Tents: 125 gold each
- Capturing Persian Field Hospitals: 125 gold each
- Killing Persian Priests: 175 gold each
- Destroying Persian Banners: 175 gold each
Captured Persian Command Tents act as training sites, thus the player can train Royal Companion Cavalry behind the Persian lines. Similarly, captured Field Hospitals grant health regeneration to any units nearby.
While destroying the Persian Ox Carts does not grant any gold, their loss significantly damages Persian morale. Making the Persian Horses stampede (for example by destroying a Camp Stable) also significantly damages Persian morale without granting gold, and the stampeding Horses heavily injure or kill any Persian troops in their way.
Current morale for both armies is tracked on the right side of the screen, and can assume the following values (from highest to lowest): "Excellent", "High", "Steady", "Wavering", "Critical!", and "Broken". Additionally, near each of the player's Command Tents, feedback is presented to indicate the current battle state for the given sector.
The second part is about tracking down the Greek Mercenaries, and fighting them back to their camp four times until they surrender, where the player must decide between forgiving or slaughtering them; the former will enable the training of Mercenary Hoplites for the rest of the campaign. Like in the first part, clearing an area of Greek Mercenaries grants gold (100 for the first, 125 for the second, and 150 for the third and fourth areas), which can be spent on additional troops. Because the Greek Mercenaries are likely to outnumber the player's units due to losses against the Persians, careful baiting, countering, and defeating in detail is essential. A limited number of reserves are available in the event that the mercenaries overwhelm the player's forces, but this should not be relied upon.
Trivia[]
- During the battle of the Granicus, the Greek mercenaries tried to negotiate a surrender to Alexander, but Alexander refused and fought them in battle. He later captured the surviving Greek mercenaries and sold them into slavery as punishment for their betrayal of their fellow Greeks. As such, executing the Greek mercenaries is the more historically accurate option for the player over sparing them.
